UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Ensuring equity amid India’s educational progress
Q1. With reference to the school-education statistics reported through UDISE+ for the academic years 2024-25 and 2025-26, consider the following statements:
1. The total number of teachers crossed the one-crore mark for the first time in 2024-25, and the 2025-26 reporting year records a rise of 8.3 per cent in teachers over 2022-23.
2. Total student enrolment reported for 2024-25 stood at about 24.69 crore.
3. The share of girls in total enrolment slipped in 2024-25 relative to the preceding year, from 48.3 per cent to 48.1 per cent.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The total number of teachers crossed the one-crore mark for the first time in 2024-25, and the 2025-26 reporting year records a rise of 8.3 per cent in teachers over 2022-23.
- Total student enrolment reported for 2024-25 stood at about 24.69 crore.
- The share of girls in total enrolment slipped in 2024-25 relative to the preceding year, from 48.3 per cent to 48.1 per cent.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q2. Which one of the following correctly describes the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), whose latest annual report was brought out by the Ministry of Education?
- A. A household sample survey of schooling status and educational expenditure, conducted annually across States since 2012-13
- B. A national learning-achievement assessment of sampled students in selected grades, conducted across districts since 2024
- C. A census-mode digital platform on which every recognised school reports its own particulars, used for annual data capture since 2018-19
- D. A district-level composite ranking of school education performance, compiled and published by the Ministry since 2018-19
Q3. With reference to the origin and institutional evolution of UDISE/UDISE+, consider the following:
1. DISE — the data system for elementary education that was merged to form UDISE.
2. SEMIS — the data system for secondary education that was merged to form UDISE.
3. NUEPA (now NIEPA) — the institution that managed UDISE.
4. NCERT — the body on whose servers UDISE+ data is hosted.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- DISE — the data system for elementary education that was merged to form UDISE.
- SEMIS — the data system for secondary education that was merged to form UDISE.
- NUEPA (now NIEPA) — the institution that managed UDISE.
- NCERT — the body on whose servers UDISE+ data is hosted.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 3 and 4
- C. 2, 3 and 4
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q4. The online, school-level data-capture platform that replaced paper-based annual returns in school education was developed and is operationally supervised by which one of the following?
- A. The National Statistical Office, under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
- B. The Department of School Education and Literacy, under the Ministry of Education
- C. The National Council of Educational Research and Training, an autonomous body of the Ministry of Education
- D. The Department of Higher Education, under the Ministry of Education
Q5. The Performance Grading Index 2.0 for States/UTs (PGI-S) is structured as which one of the following?
- A. 600 points across 70 indicators, grouped under six categories
- B. 1000 points across 73 indicators, grouped under two categories and six domains
- C. 1000 points across 70 indicators, grouped under five domains, with States placed in five grades
- D. 600 points across 83 indicators, grouped under two categories and four domains
Q6. Consider the following statements comparing the Performance Grading Index 2.0 for States/UTs with the Performance Grading Index for Districts:
1. Under the State/UT index, the highest attainable grade is 'Utkarsh', awarded to a State/UT scoring more than 940 points.
2. The district index carries a total weightage of 600 points, as against 1000 points for the State/UT index.
3. 'School Safety & Child Protection' and 'Digital Learning' are categories of the district index, and do not figure among the domains of the State/UT index.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Under the State/UT index, the highest attainable grade is 'Utkarsh', awarded to a State/UT scoring more than 940 points.
- The district index carries a total weightage of 600 points, as against 1000 points for the State/UT index.
- 'School Safety & Child Protection' and 'Digital Learning' are categories of the district index, and do not figure among the domains of the State/UT index.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q7. Consider the following stage-wise pupil-teacher ratios attributed to UDISE+ 2025-26:
1. Foundational stage — 10
2. Preparatory stage — 13
3. Middle stage — 17
4. Secondary stage — 21
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Foundational stage — 10
- Preparatory stage — 13
- Middle stage — 17
- Secondary stage — 21
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1, 3 and 4
- D. 3 only
Q8. Regarding the school stage at which the highest pupil-teacher ratio was recorded in UDISE+ 2025-26, which one of the following statements is correct?
- A. It is the Secondary stage, at 21, which nonetheless remains below the National Education Policy 2020 benchmark of under 30:1
- B. It is the Middle stage, at 17, which is the only stage in the country still exceeding the National Education Policy 2020 benchmark
- C. It is the Foundational stage, at 10, all the other stages having entirely met the National Education Policy 2020 benchmark
- D. It is the Preparatory stage, at 12, which alone breaches the ratio of under 25:1 that the Policy prescribes for every school
Q9. The stage-wise dropout rates and the Gross Enrolment Ratio quoted for the 2025-26 academic year rest on which one of the following, and on what basis are they compiled?
- A. UDISE+, compiled from particulars reported by recognised schools themselves, government and private alike, under the Department of School Education and Literacy
- B. PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan, a complete enumeration of every enrolled student in every school of the country, conducted by NCERT
- C. The Periodic Labour Force Survey, which alone furnishes the country's official estimates of school dropout among children and adolescents
- D. The National Sample Survey on education, which covers exclusively government and government-aided schools across all States and UTs
Q10. The proportion of schools possessing functional computers and internet connectivity, as captured through UDISE+, is scored as a parameter under which one of the following?
- A. The 'Effective Classroom Transaction' category of the Performance Grading Index for Districts
- B. The 'Teachers Education and Training' domain of the Performance Grading Index 2.0 for States/UTs
- C. The 'Governance Process' domain of the Performance Grading Index 2.0 for States/UTs
- D. The 'Digital Learning' category of the Performance Grading Index for Districts
Q11. The proposals for a Gender Inclusion Fund and for Special Education Zones in areas with a significant proportion of disadvantaged groups originate in the National Education Policy 2020, which was drafted by a Committee chaired by:
- A. Dr. K. Kasturirangan
- B. Shri T.S.R. Subramanian
- C. Dr. D.S. Kothari
- D. Prof. Yash Pal
Q12. With reference to Samagra Shiksha, the umbrella scheme for school education monitored through UDISE+, consider the following statements:
1. It subsumes the erstwhile Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and Teacher Education schemes, and spans pre-school to class 12.
2. Centre-State fund sharing is 90:10 for the eight North-Eastern States and the three Himalayan States of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
3. For Union Territories without a legislature, the scheme is funded on a 60:40 basis between the Centre and the UT administration.
4. Teacher salary support lies outside the scheme, which funds only infrastructure creation and RTE entitlements.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?
- It subsumes the erstwhile Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and Teacher Education schemes, and spans pre-school to class 12.
- Centre-State fund sharing is 90:10 for the eight North-Eastern States and the three Himalayan States of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
- For Union Territories without a legislature, the scheme is funded on a 60:40 basis between the Centre and the UT administration.
- Teacher salary support lies outside the scheme, which funds only infrastructure creation and RTE entitlements.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 3 only
- C. 3 and 4
- D. 1, 2 and 4