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Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Over 10,000 unrecognised schools in Bihar, Jharkhand: Education Ministry
New Delhi: Jharkhand and Bihar together have over 10,000 unrecognised schools enrolling over 1.6 million students and having more than 88,000 teachers, according to the Union education ministry. While Jharkhand has the 'highest' 5,879 unrecognised schools in the country with an enrolment of 8,37,897 students and 46,421 teachers, Bihar has 4,915 such schools with an enrolment of 7,75,704 students and 42,377 teachers. During Project Approval Board (PAB) meetings for the approval of budget and plans under Samagra Shiksha scheme for 2025-26 with the state officials between March and April 2025, the ministry stated that unrecognised schools are violating section 19 of the Right To Education (RTE) Act 2009 which requires pre-existing schools to meet prescribed norms within three years of the Act's commencement. 'The Act also mandates that if such schools fail to fulfil the norms, the recognition shall be withdrawn, and the school shall cease to function,' said the minutes of the meetings uploaded on the ministry's website. The ministry has asked both the states to 'take further course of action and issue suitable instructions to the authorities concerned to recognise these unrecognised schools or to take appropriate action as deemed fit at the earliest.' The ministry has quoted data for unrecognised schools in Bihar and Jharkhand from Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE)+ 2023-24 report. However, the data on unrecognised schools is not publicly available in the said report released in January this year. The education ministry officials did not respond to HT's queries on clarification. 'These [Unrecognised] schools started functioning before the implementation of RTE Act 2009. The state government has already issued directions for recognition of such schools. We have formed district-level recognition committees for recognition of such schools,' Sachidanand Diyendu Tigga, administrative officer at Jharkhand education project council told HT. According to the minutes of the PAB meetings, the ministry has also flagged 'large variation' in reporting of data about out-of-school children (OoSC) by Bihar and Jharkhand on the education ministry's Project Appraisal, Budgeting, Achievements and Data Handling System (PRABANDH) portal and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey. The Centre describes an OoSC as a child aged six to 14 years, who has never been enrolled in an elementary school or has remained absent from school after enrolment without prior intimation for 45 days. OoSC, therefore, include both never enrolled in schools and the dropouts. Data for OoSC is uploaded by states on PRABANDH portal, the online system used to monitor the implementation and progress of Samagra Shiksha, a shared scheme between the Centre and states supporting public schools with a funding ratio of 60:40. According to the NSSO, 'never enrolled' children are those who have never attended any school or formal educational institution. In Jharkhand, the PRABANDH portal recorded 37,409 Out-of-School Children (aged 6 to 19 years) for 2023–24. In contrast, the NSSO survey for 2022–23 reported 1,07,639 'never enrolled' children in the 6 to 14 age group. In Bihar, PRABANDH data for 2023–24 showed 33,285 OoSCs, while the NSSO reported a significantly higher figure of 6,27,763 'never enrolled' children for 2022–23. The ministry advised both the states to 'monitor the data uploaded on the portal by a responsible officer under the supervision of the State Project Director (SPD).' The ministry also directed both the states to initiate a special enrolment drive with full involvement of school management committees to ensure identification and admission of all OoSC. Tigga said, 'We will look into discrepancies in the number of OoSCs. We are running the campaign 'back to school' to enroll those students who are not going to the schools.'
The Print
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
Out-of-school children: Centre flags huge mismatch in Bihar, Jharkhand data & national survey
The discrepancies surfaced during meetings between state officials and the Project Approval Board (PAB) for the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, the largest school education scheme, held between March and April 2025. The minutes of the meetings were released last week. With the mismatch raising concerns about the reliability of state data, the ministry has asked these states to closely monitor the data uploaded to the portal. New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Education has flagged significant discrepancies between the number of out-of-school children reported by Bihar and Jharkhand on the Centre's online portal and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey, ThePrint has learnt. According to the minutes reviewed by ThePrint, the ministry identified a 'large variation' in the number of Out-of-School Children (OoSC)—defined as those aged 6 to 14 years who are not enrolled in or attending any educational institution—on the PRABANDH portal, the online system used to monitor the implementation of the Samagra Shiksha scheme. In Bihar, state data for 2023-24 showed 33,285 OoSCs on PRABANDH while the number of 'never enrolled' children recorded by the NSSO survey (2022-23) was 6,27,763. Similarly, in Jharkhand, PRABANDH listed 37,409 OoSC in 2023-24 compared with the NSSO's (2022-23) 1,07,639. NSSO defines 'never enrolled' children as students not attending school or any formal education institution at that point of time 'The state was advised to monitor the data uploaded on the portal by a responsible officer under the supervision of the state project directorate,' the minutes stated. The ministry has advised other states and Union territories (UTs) to ensure effective data collection of out-of-school children and timely updates on the PRABANDH portal on bringing them to school. Shashi Ranjan, State Project Director, Jharkhand Education Project Council, told ThePrint the state was investigating the reason behind the data mismatch. 'We are trying to find out how this gap has been reported because we conduct household surveys. We will also coordinate with the NSSO to understand their methodology. However, our process is very meticulous,' he said. He said the education department in Jharkhand conducts door-to-door surveys annually to identify the number of out-of-school children, and the data is updated on the PRABANDH portal. ThePrint reached Bihar Education Department Secretary Ajay Yadav via multiple calls or messages. This report will be updated if and when a response is received. Meanwhile, a Bihar Education Department official told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that they are also looking to ascertain the cause of the discrepancy. Also Read: 'Everything at stake' for Indian students as US pauses visa interviews amid social media vetting plan Teaching posts lying vacant across various states According to the minutes, the ministry also flagged widespread vacancies in teaching posts across various states. Bihar reported 'significant' teacher vacancies, with 208,784 at the elementary level, 36,035 at the secondary level and 33,035 at the senior secondary level. According to the minutes, the state indicated that recruitment is underway, with around 80,000 posts to be filled through the state public service commission and 'plans for further recruitment to follow'. In Haryana, the ministry flagged 7,626 teacher vacancies in elementary schools, 4,070 in secondary schools and 3,847 in senior secondary schools. Madhya Pradesh had 47,122 teacher vacancies in elementary schools, 2,877 in secondary schools and 2,020 in senior secondary schools. Similarly, Punjab had 6,423 vacant teaching posts across the state, including 1,546 at the elementary level, 961 at the secondary level and 3,916 at the senior secondary level. According to the minutes, the states were advised to fill the teacher vacancies by December 2025. Besides, in Maharashtra, the ministry flagged 8,254 vacancies in elementary school teachers, 660 in secondary school teachers and 65 in senior secondary school teachers. 'The state has informed that it has started the recruitment process and has advertised the vacancies. lt will fill the vacant positions within a period of three months,' the minutes stated. Kerala came in for praise by the ministry for 'filling up all sanctioned posts of teachers in all schools'. (Edited by Sugita Katyal) Also Read: To use or not, is no longer the question. From IITs to DU, universities are fighting unethical AI use
