Ranchi: Gross enrolment ratio (GER) in schools across the state saw a slight decrease at the primary level in 2025-26, while it showed an upward trend in upper primary, secondary and higher secondary classes, according to the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) report published by the ministry of education.GER at the primary level (classes 1-5) decreased from 92.5% in 2024-25 to 90.4% in 2025-26. However, at the upper primary level (classes 6-8) it rose from 83.1% to 84.8%. Secondary level (classes 9-10) witnessed a jump from 72.6% to 75.8%, while the most impressive growth was recorded at the higher secondary level (classes 11-12), which surged from 48.6% to 55%.The state also registered a healthy rise in transition rates, with girls outperforming boys in moving up the academic ladder. The transition from primary to upper primary rose from 89.6% in 2024-25 to 90.4% in 2025-26. Similarly, the movement from upper primary to secondary increased from 81.3% to 83.6%, and the secondary to higher secondary transition rose from 74.7% to 77.7%.The primary level retention rate grew from 88.5% to 91.2%, while from classes 1 to 10, it witnessed a 14.2% spike, reaching 66.5% in 2025-26. The long-term retention from classes 1 to 12 also experienced an upward shift, climbing from 35.1% to 42%.Despite these achievements, the increase in dropout rate is worrying. The primary level dropout rate crept up from 0% to 0.1%, while in the upper primary, it rose from 1.7% to 2.5%. At the secondary level, the dropout rate nearly doubled from 3.5% in 2024-25 to 6.6% in 2025-26.The report, which mapped 44,378 schools across the state, highlighted that the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) remained unchanged at 36, with the average number of teachers per school at 5. The number of schools with zero enrolment increased from 107 in 2024-25 to 125 in 2025-26. The count of single-teacher schools in the state also escalated sharply, rising from 9,172 to 9,827.