Over 1 million children 'out of school' for academic year 2024-25, reports Education Ministry

The Union ministry of education has reported that over 1.1 million children in India are 'out of school' (OoSC) for the 2024-25 academic year.

The information was shared in a written response to a query by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Sribharat Mathukumilli, who asked about non-enrollment across primary to senior secondary levels.

Union Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary reported that Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Assam account for a significant proportion of the 1,170,404 children still not enrolled in school.

“Uttar Pradesh contributes the most with 784,228 OoSC children, followed by Jharkhand with 65,070 and Assam with 63,848,” said Chaudhary.

On the contrary, the states with the lowest numbers are Sikkim (74), Puducherry (four), and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (two OoSC children).

In Ladakh and Lakshadweep, there have been no reports of children missing school.

During the 2021–22 school year, 26,52,35,830 students were registered in schools, according to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) portal, which is run by the union education ministry.

Of these, 13,79,00,578 were boys and 12,73,35,252 were girls. India recorded 10,55,283 teachers and 14,89,115 schools in that year.