In a shocking development, more than 1.17 million children across India have been identified as out-of-school in the first eight months of FY 2024-25 as per Government data. Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of out-of-school Children at 784,228, followed by Jharkhand at number two with 65,070 and Assam at number three with 63,848.
Remarkably, Sikkim has recorded only 74 out-of-school children during this time period, which is the lowest among all states. While the Union Territories of Ladakh and Lakshadweep have no out-of-school children, Andaman and Nicobar Islands have recorded just two, and Puducherry only four.
This data was presented in the Lok Sabha on Monday by Union Minister of State for Education, Jayant Chaudhary. The Ministry of Education tracks these figures through its PRABANDH portal (Project Appraisal, Budgeting, Achievements, and Data Handling System), which is updated by states and Union Territories.
Children identified as out-of-school are aged between 6-14 years. These include children who have never enrolled in school or have dropped out after being absent for 45 days without notice.
States and UT-wise figures
Following is the list of states and Union Territories with their respective out-of-school children numbers for 2024-25:
The above figures point out that India is yet to overcome challenges towards ensuring access to education for all especially in the states of UP, Assam and Jharkhand. However, the figures are slightly better as compared to FY 2022-23 which witnessed 1.25 million out-of-school children in India.
