The Union Education Ministry has flagged serious concerns over the presence of more than 10,000 unrecognised schools operating in Bihar and Jharkhand, enrolling over 1.6 million students and employing over 88,000 teachers—all outside the regulatory framework of the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
According to data cited by the ministry from the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) 2023–24, Jharkhand leads the country with 5,879 unrecognised schools, accommodating 8,37,897 students and 46,421 teachers. Bihar follows closely with 4,915 such schools, enrolling 7,75,704 students and employing 42,377 teachers.
Violation of RTE Act Norms
During Project Approval Board (PAB) meetings held between March and April 2025 under the Samagra Shiksha scheme, the ministry stated that these institutions are in violation of Section 19 of the RTE Act, 2009, which mandates all pre-existing schools to meet prescribed norms within three years of the Act’s implementation.
“If schools fail to comply, their recognition must be withdrawn and they must cease operations,” the ministry noted in the meeting minutes, which are publicly available on its website.
Government Response and Action Steps
The ministry has urged both Bihar and Jharkhand to take “appropriate action” by either recognizing the schools or issuing closure directives. It also advised states to issue necessary instructions to local authorities without delay.
An official from the Jharkhand Education Project Council, Sachidanand Diyendu Tigga, acknowledged the issue and said:
“These schools began before the RTE Act came into force. The state has issued guidelines for their recognition, and district-level recognition committees have been formed.”
Concerns Over Out-of-School Children (OoSC)
The ministry also highlighted significant discrepancies between OoSC data reported on its PRABANDH portal and figures from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO):
Jharkhand:
PRABANDH (2023–24): 37,409 OoSC (ages 6–19)
NSSO (2022–23): 1,07,639 ‘never enrolled’ (ages 6–14)
Bihar:
PRABANDH (2023–24): 33,285 OoSC
NSSO (2022–23): 6,27,763 ‘never enrolled’
These wide gaps have raised concerns about data reliability and monitoring effectiveness.
The ministry has directed both states to:
Assign data verification to a responsible officer under the supervision of the State Project Director (SPD)
Launch a special enrolment drive with full participation of School Management Committees (SMCs) to identify and enroll all OoSC
Tigga added:
“We will look into the discrepancies. A ‘Back to School’ campaign is already underway to bring dropouts back into the education system.”
For more details and official updates, visit the Ministry of Education’s website or the official Samagra Shiksha portal.
