India Per Student Spending Is Low and Education Suffers

India per student spending, the central government collects lakhs of crores of rupees from Income Tax, Corporate Tax, GST, Customs every year.

But the question still remains the same—
“Why is India’s education system weak despite collecting so much tax?”
The answer to this question is statistics. And this truth is clear.

India collects a lot of taxes, but the people are also heavy

According to the 2024–25 budget:

• GST – ₹10.68 lakh crore
• Corporate tax – ₹9.22 lakh crore
• Income tax – ₹9.01 lakh crore
• Customs – ₹2.33 lakh crore

Total tax collection – around ₹26 lakh crore. This ₹26 lakh crore when distributed over 140 crore people, falls to just ₹18,500 per person.

In other words, the government takes millions of crores, but the country’s population is so large that it becomes thin as soon as the money is distributed

Also, the government runs the army, roads, railways, health, police, pensions, subsidies, welfare schemes—all with this money.
Therefore the budget for education rarely escapes

India spends much less on education than the rest of the world

The central government of India per student spending only ₹1.25 lakh crore on education in the 2024 budget.

This is only 0.37% of the country’s GDP.

If center + states add up, total education spending comes out to be 2.9% of GDP.

The advice in the world is to spend 6% of GDP, but India can’t even spend half

See other countries:

• USA – 5–7%

• Brazil – 6.1%

• South Africa – 6%

India is far behind here.
Less money = fewer schools + fewer teachers + fewer facilities.

Other departments eat up the entire budget before the money reaches education

Many parts of India’s budget are already “fixed”.

Biggest government spending in 2024–25:

• Interest payments – ₹11.91 lakh crore
• Defense Department – ​​₹6.21 lakh crore
• Subsidy – ₹4.13 lakh crore
• Pensions – ₹2.62 lakh crore
• Infrastructure – ₹2.70 lakh crore

After meeting all these expenses, there is very little money left on education. That is why schools, colleges, teachers, labs, libraries all fall short.

Population high, funds low — hence education weak

Now look at the comparison to the US:

• USA Population – 340 million
• India Population – 140 crore
• USA Spending per student – ​​₹11 lakh/year
• India Spending per student – ​​₹18,000/year

India per student spending 60 times less money per student than the US. How can a strong education system be built with such little spending?

Severe shortage of teachers and low salaries – direct impact on quality

UDISE Report:

• Only 1 teacher in 1 in every 6 schools

• 10.6 lakh teacher shortage

• Government School Teacher Salary – ₹25,000–80,000

• Private School Teacher Salary – ₹3,000–₹8,0

Low salary = low quality = low study = weak foundation. For the same reason, government school teaching weakens, while private schools increase expenses.

Old syllabus – new skills are not available

50–60% of colleges in India today teach 10–15 year old syllabus.

• Only 2.6% of India’s colleges in the world’s top 500 universities

• Only 27% of India’s graduates are considered employable

Education old, job new — mismatch
It is this mismatch that holds back the youth of India.

Half of the money from GST goes to the state — and education is the responsibility of the state

This is a very important point:

• 50% of GST goes to the state government

• Education is a whole State Subject

Meaning:

The Center takes taxes,
to handle state education,
But not all states give priority to education.

Many states spend more (e.g. Tamil Nadu),
Many states very little (like Bihar).

This is the main reason for education quality inequality in the country

Conclusion — Why is education lagging behind?

Final Important Line (Most Important Conclusion)

India collects a lot of taxes, but for a population of 140 crore, the money spent on education is very low, which is why India’s education system is lagging behind the world today.