Telangana’s secondary schools with science labs higher than national average, but lags behind several States 

Telangana's secondary schools excel in science lab availability, surpassing the national average but lagging behind several states.

Telangana has higher than the national average of secondary schools with integrated science laboratories, according to data from Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) for 2024-25. Out of 13,103 schools in Telangana under all managements that have secondary sections, 8,808 have integrated science labs, translating to 67.2%. Just two years earlier in 2022-23 this number was 43.6%.

The State’s overall performance is higher than the national average of 57.1%, indicating relatively better infrastructure coverage. Uttar Pradesh has only 50.1% secondary schools with integrated science labs. Bihar has the lowest number of secondary schools with integrated science labs at 26%.

At the national level, India has 2.9 lakh schools with secondary sections, of which only 1.66 lakh have integrated science lab facilities in 2024-25. This is a marginal improvement from 1.56 lakhs schools having integrated science labs out of a total of 2.79 lakh secondary schools in 2022-23 (from 55.8% to 57.1%).

“Without hands-on experience with objects to test scientific principles, the students have only theoretical knowledge. The result will be what has happened at the AI Summit in Delhi. Labs are compulsory in science, unlike in social sciences. There is a huge demand for science labs in schools and colleges, but many schools in the country lack this basic facility,” said K. Laxminarayana, a University of Hyderabad professor, when asked about science teaching and frontiers of technology like artificial intelligence and robotics.

“Schools have been hollowed out of science teachers and other subject teachers due to low or zero recruitment of faculty,” said Mr. Laxminarayana who made a case for increasing education budget in Telangana.

However, Telangana still trails several States such as Tamil Nadu (80.1%), Odisha (80%), and Punjab (75.5%), where a larger proportion of secondary schools have integrated science laboratories.