Over 65,000 govt schools across India have less than 10 students: GoI data

New Delhi: More than 65,000 government schools across the country have fewer than 10 students, including 5,149 institutions that recorded zero enrolment in 2024-25, official data from the Ministry of Education show.

The ministry said over 70% of schools with no students are located in Telangana and West Bengal, pointing to stark regional imbalances in enrolment within the government school system.

The figures were provided last week in a written response to questions by MPs Karti P. Chidambaram and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring in the Lok Sabha and are based on data compiled through the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+).

In addition to zero-enrolment schools, the data indicate a sharp increase in government institutions with critically low student numbers. The number of schools with fewer than 10 or no students rose by 24% over the past two academic years, climbing from 52,309 in 2022-23 to 65,054 in 2024-25.

Such low-enrolment schools now make up 6.42% of all government schools nationwide, underscoring a widening gap between available infrastructure and actual student attendance.

The data further show that more than 1.44 lakh teachers were posted in schools with fewer than 10 or no students during the period, raising concerns over teacher deployment and the use of resources at the state level.

The ministry noted that education falls under the Concurrent List of the Constitution, with state governments and Union Territory administrations responsible for managing schools and deploying teachers.

The government of India, it said, supports states and UTs through the Samagra Shiksha scheme to ensure prescribed pupil-teacher ratios and strengthen school infrastructure.