India’s education landscape presents a striking paradox: nearly 8,000 schools across the nation reported zero student enrollments during the 2024-25 academic session. Even more astonishing is that these empty classrooms are staffed by over 20,000 teachers.
A deep dive into the Ministry of Education’s latest statistics reveals that West Bengal is at the forefront of this unusual situation, accounting for 3,812 schools with no students and employing a staggering 17,965 teachers within them. Following West Bengal, Telangana reported 2,245 such schools with 1,016 teachers, and Madhya Pradesh had 463 schools employing 223 teachers.
Encouragingly, the overall number of zero-enrollment schools has seen a significant decline, dropping by more than 5,000 from 12,954 in the previous year. Several states and Union Territories, including Haryana, Maharashtra, Goa, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, and Delhi, successfully reported no schools with zero student intake.
Education officials acknowledge this as a critical issue, reiterating that school education is primarily a state responsibility. States have been urged to tackle these discrepancies, with some already implementing measures like merging underutilized schools to optimize resources, including infrastructure and staff. For instance, Uttar Pradesh, which has 81 zero-enrollment schools, is considering revoking the recognition of institutions that have consistently reported no student admissions for three consecutive academic years.
Beyond the challenge of zero-enrollment schools, India also grapples with the prevalence of single-teacher schools. Currently, over 1 lakh such schools cater to more than 33 lakh students nationwide. Andhra Pradesh leads in the number of these schools, while Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh have the highest student enrollments in single-teacher institutions. This number, however, shows a positive trend, decreasing by approximately 6% from 118,190 in 2022–23 to 110,971 in 2023–24.
These statistics underscore the complex challenges and ongoing efforts within India’s vast education system, highlighting the need for continued strategic interventions to ensure every school serves its fundamental purpose.