By Mohammad Asif Iqbal
NEW DELHI: Admissions for the academic session 2026–27 have begun, covering Nursery, KG, and Classes 1 through 9. However, the serious and unresolved issue of school dropouts in India still persists—especially in rural areas and among marginalized and socio-economically disadvantaged communities.
In India, socio-economically disadvantaged communities are generally classified into five broad categories:
(i) Other Backward Classes (OBC): These are communities identified by the government as socially and educationally backward. They are entitled to 27% reservation in public employment and higher education.
(ii) Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC): Often used interchangeably with OBC, this is the formal constitutional term (under Articles 15 and 16) for groups requiring affirmative action due to social and educational disadvantages.
(iii) Economically Backward Classes (EBC): A relatively newer category, EBC identifies individuals based solely on economic deprivation—such as income and assets—regardless of caste or social background.
(iv) Scheduled Castes (SC) and
(v) Scheduled Tribes (ST): Although distinct from OBC/SEBC, these groups are also considered socially disadvantaged due to historical discrimination (in the case of SCs) and geographical or cultural isolation (in the case of STs).
School dropout rates remain a significant and common challenge across all these communities.
Over the past five years, more than 6.5 million (65 lakh) children in India have dropped out of school, as revealed in Parliament by Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Savitri Thakur. Of these, nearly 3 million (30 lakh) are adolescent girls.
These figures highlight a serious setback to India’s commitment to universal education. They also expose deep structural gaps in how the education system is planned, supported, and delivered—particularly for children from marginalized and socio-economically disadvantaged communities.
The data shows that 65.7 million children left school between 2019 and 2024. Of these, 2.98 million were girls in the adolescent age group, as reported by India Today.
A statewise breakdown revealed that Gujarat recorded the highest number of out-of-school children in the 2025–26 academic year. The state identified 240,000 (2.4 lakh) such children, including 110,000 (1.1 lakh) girls. In comparison, Gujarat had reported only 54,541 out-of-school children in 2024. This marks a jump of over 340 percent in a single year.
Other states with high dropout numbers included Assam, which reported 150,906 (1.5 lakh) out-of-school children, of whom 57,409 were girls. Uttar Pradesh recorded 99,218 dropouts, including 56,462 girls.
The Ministry cited a range of factors contributing to the dropout of girls from school. These included migration, poverty, household responsibilities, child labour and social pressures.
For girls, the dropout journey is even more layered. They are expected to take care of younger siblings, fetch water, cook meals and sometimes even earn income. In many families, especially in rural and tribal areas, there is pressure for early marriage or fear about girls’ safety if they travel to far-off schools. Each of these factors pushes them out of classrooms.
A recent state-level policy in UP may have worsened the problem. The government decided to merge schools with fewer than 50 students into nearby institutions. While this may sound efficient from an administrative point of view, for many children, particularly girls, it means having to walk longer distances, often alone. For families already hesitant to send girls to school, this can be the final push towards dropping out.
“The difficulties in documentation process for admission coupled with difficulties in getting pre-matric and post-matric scholarship by Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) students prevent some students from these marginalised groups to access education,” Beena Pallical of National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights was quoted as saying.
Girl students’ enrolment dropped by around 1.6 million, while boy students fell by about 2.1 million between 2022-23 and 2023-24. SC category students declined by 1.2 million, and ST by 200,000. The number of students categorised as OBC dropped by over 2.5 million, and among all minority communities there was a combined decrease of 300,000.
Government & NGO has initiated so many schemes to control the school dropouts, like (a) Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan: An integrated scheme from preschool to class 12 providing free uniforms, textbooks, and transport allowances. (b) Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme: This remains one of the most effective incentives for keeping children from low-income families enrolled by providing daily nutritional support. (c) “Bringing Children Back to School”: A targeted campaign to re-enroll dropouts by involving local panchayats and School Management Committees, etc. but the issue is not solved yet.
Whereas the National Education Policy aims for 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) from preschool to secondary level by 2030 in terms of 100% Gross Enrolment ratio, this status-oriented analysis identifies strengths and challenges. The UDISE+ 2024-25 report disseminated in September 2025, captures data on schools, enrolments, teachers, and infrastructure across the country. India has 1,471,473 schools, with an average of 168 students and 7 teachers per school. However, 7,993 schools have zero enrolments, and 104,125 (7.1%) are single-teacher schools serving 3,376,769 students, signaling resource inefficiencies. States like Telangana (2,245 zero-enrolment schools) and Uttar Pradesh (9,508 single-teacher schools) contribute significantly to these figures.
About, 5.1% of schools have fewer than 10 enrolments, and 8.0% have 11-20, indicating underutilization, particularly in rural areas. Infrastructure includes 1,377,945 schools (93.6%) with electricity (1,352,061 functional, 91.9%), 1,372,205 (93.2%) with girls’ toilets (1,372,881 functional, 93.3%), though digital library access is limited to 101,505 schools (6.9%). States from the north-eastern parts of the country, like Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tripura, etc show lower electricity coverage (below 90%).
In the current situation based on the cited above data, Central and State Governments as well as NGOs working to resolve the educational issue at different level should take the dropout issue on priority basis otherwise the 100 percent enrolment target of the NEP 2020 cannot achieve.
On the other hand, even if the target of 100% enrolment is achieved and the problem of children dropping out of school cannot be solved, then such 100% enrolment will not achieve anything. Because this enrolment does not help children reach from school to college and at a time when children cannot enter college and higher education or professional education from school, then it is inevitable to raise questions on such an education system.
The question also arises that why is the problem of child dropout not taken seriously in the country? Do the government and its institutions themselves want the backward and socially weak classes, groups and minorities to continue to suffer from the same conditions? If this is the case, which, although not written, certainly appears to be practical, then this situation is not only regrettable but also flawed and painful in terms of policy.
*Mohammad Asif Iqbal is an Indian columnist and freelance journalist based in New Delhi.
