At the higher secondary level, however, the GER was only 46.8 per cent in 2025-26, compared with 44.8 per cent a year earlier and 43.18 per cent in 2018-19. The data therefore shows a pronounced gap between participation at the primary stage and continuation into higher secondary education. In 2025-26, 74.7 per cent of boys and 76.3 per cent of girls in Jammu and Kashmir transitioned from secondary to higher secondary education. With the higher secondary retention rate at just 39.1 per cent, the data indicates that a substantial proportion of students who enter the school system are not being retained through the final years of school education. The figures underscore the need for greater attention to the transition from secondary to higher secondary education and to the factors that push students out of formal schooling before completing their school education.