In a concerning trend revealed in Parliament on Wednesday, more than 5,000 government schools across India reported zero enrolment of students in the 2024-25 academic year, according to official figures from the Ministry of Education.
Over 70 per cent of these empty schools are in Telangana and West Bengal, highlighting significant regional disparities in school attendance, IndiaTV reports.
Out of approximately 10.13 lakh government schools nationwide, 5,149 institutions had no enrolled students, the data shows. Telangana accounted for around 2,081 of these schools, while West Bengal reported 1,571 such institutions.
At the district level, Telangana’s Nalgonda district recorded the highest number of empty schools nationwide (315), followed by Mahabubabad (167) and Warangal (135). In West Bengal, Kolkata had 211 zero-enrolment schools, with Purba Medinipur (177) and Dakshin Dinajpur (147) also reporting high numbers of schools without students.
The broader category of government schools with “less than 10 or zero students” also rose sharply, increasing by 24 per cent over the past two years. The number of such schools rose from 52,309 in 2022-23 to 65,054 in 2024-25, now representing about 6.42 per cent of all government schools.
Despite the absence of students, a substantial number of teachers remain posted at these institutions. About 1.44 lakh teachers are currently deployed in schools with minimal or no enrolment, compared with 1.26 lakh two years ago.
The Ministry of Education issued this data in response to queries raised by Indian National Congress (INC) leaders and Members of Parliament Karthi Chidambaram and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.
