Shocking Report by Education Ministry Reveals 8,000 Schools With Zero Admissions Have Over 20,000 Teachers

According to the Union Education Ministry, there must be one teacher for every 30 children. However, there are 8,000 schools in the country where not a single child has enrolled for the academic session 2024-25, yet over 20,000 teachers are employed there.

Education Ministry report: A significant piece of information has emerged from the Ministry of Education's report. Approximately 8,000 schools across the country have recorded zero student admissions for the academic session 2024-25, despite having 20,000 teachers deployed in them. West Bengal has the highest number of schools with no admissions nationwide. Here, 3,812 such schools have not admitted any children, while 17,965 teachers are posted in these schools. In second place is the Congress-ruled state of Telangana, with 2,245 schools reporting zero admissions and 1,016 teachers deployed. The BJP-ruled state of Madhya Pradesh ranks third on this list, with 463 zero-admission schools and 223 teachers posted.

According to Ministry of Education data, 7,993 schools had no admissions this year, which is 5,000 fewer than the previous academic session 2023-2024. A ministry official stated that school education is a state subject and states have been asked to address the issue of zero admissions in schools. Some states have merged schools with a low number of students into other institutions. The official further informed that Haryana, Maharashtra, Goa, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, and Chandigarh had no schools with zero admissions.

81 Schools in UP Report Zero Admissions

There are 81 such schools in Uttar Pradesh. The UP Board had announced that it was preparing to de-recognise its affiliated schools across the state that have recorded zero student registrations for the last three consecutive academic years. Across the country, over 3.3 million students are enrolled in more than one lakh single-teacher schools, with Andhra Pradesh recording the highest number of such institutions. This is followed by Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Lakshadweep. The number of single-teacher schools has decreased from 1,18,190 in 2022–23 to 1,10,971 in 2023–24.

One Teacher for Every 30 Students

The Union Ministry of Education consistently emphasises the importance of maintaining a good student-teacher ratio while providing quality education to students in schools. This mandates at least one teacher for every 30 students. For schools in economically and socially backward areas, the recommendation is to deploy at least one teacher for every 25 children.