Thiruvananthapuram: There is a steep fall in the number of students who have enrolled for Class One in government and aided schools in Kerala this academic year. From 2,50,986 in the 2024-25 academic year, the enrollment has dropped this academic year to 2,34,476, a decline of 16,510 students.

This is more than double the drop that was witnessed during the 2024-25 academic year. Last year, the fall in enrolment in Class One was 7163. In fact, the enrollment rate in Class One has shown a consistent drop since the 2021-22 academic year, coinciding with the start of the second Pinarayi Ministry.

In five years, there has been a cumulative reduction of 71,348 students enrolled in Class One of government and aided schools. In 2021-22, the enrollment in Class One was 3,05,824, which has now dwindled to 2,34,476.

The biggest drop was witnessed during the 2022-23 academic year when the enrolment in Class One was down by 37,522. 

Then, the fall in numbers were attributed to the post-COVID attempt of parents to find alternative home-based education for their children. A preference for national boards like CBSE and ICSE was also cited as reason. Another reason was Kerala's falling birth rate.

The latest fall of over 16,000 numbers, too, has been attributed to Kerala's falling birth rate. "It was students who were born in 2010 who had recently passed out of the 10th standard. The birth rate in 2010 was 15.75 (per 1000 people). Children who were born in 2020 are the ones who are now admitted to Class I. In 2020, the birth rate dropped to 12.77, down by 2.98," General Education Minister V Sivankutty said. "It is this (lowering birth rate) that has impacted enrollment in Class One this year," the minister said.

To establish his case, he cited Class One enrolment in unaided private schools. "In the unaided sector, 47,863 students were admitted to Class One this academic year. Last year, the number was 47,862, an increase of just one," Sivankutty said.

However, as government schools were incrementally depopulated of first graders, unaided private schools witnessed an increase in their numbers. The only exception was in 2022-23. Then, first grader admissions fell to 34,866 from 38,262 in 2021-22. But ever since, it had improved; 2023-24 - 39,918; 2024-25 - 47,862; 2025-26 - 47,862.

Nonetheless, there has been a 40,000-plus increase in the number of students who had enrolled in government and aided schools in Kerala from Class 2 to 10 during the 2025-26 academic year. From 28,86,607, the number has grown to 29,27,513, an increase of 40,906 students.