Gujarat School Enrolment Drive Ends with Nearly 50,000 Dropout Students Still Out of Education

26th June 2026 at 5:47 PM

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Ahmedabad: Nearly 50,000 students who had dropped out of school remain out of the education system in Gujarat despite the completion of the state’s three-day annual Shala Praveshotsav and Kanya Kelavani enrolment drive on Thursday, according to government data.

Earlier this year, a statewide survey identified 6.41 lakh Class I to X students across around 44,000 government and grant-in-aid schools who had dropped out during the 2025-26 academic session.

Ahead of the 24th edition of the annual enrolment campaign, the Gujarat government tasked nearly two lakh government teachers with tracing these dropout students during the summer vacation. The initiative was aimed at bringing out-of-school (OoS) children back into the education system.

According to report The Indian Express, Minister of State for Primary, Secondary and Adult Education Rivaba Jadeja visited the homes of several dropout students in Poshina, a tribal taluka in Sabarkantha district, on the first day of the drive to persuade students and their families to return to school.

According to data compiled by the state government and accessed by The Indian Express, 49,850 students who had dropped out during the previous academic session could not be re-enrolled in their respective classes or any other education system by the conclusion of the campaign.

District administrations were instructed to identify dropout students from every school, track them using their Unique Identification (UID) numbers, contact their parents and encourage them to resume their education.

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The state government has also introduced transportation facilities in more than 26,000 schools during the Shala Praveshotsav initiative.

The survey conducted to identify out-of-school children found that the most common reason for dropping out was the need to change schools. Gujarat has nearly 10,000 government schools that provide education only up to Class V, requiring students to shift schools from Class VI onward. Similar transitions occur between Classes VIII and IX, and Classes X and XI, contributing to student dropouts.

During the three-day enrolment drive, around 1.05 lakh children were admitted to Class I in nearly 34,000 government primary schools. In addition, 4.33 lakh children were enrolled in Balwatikas against an estimated eligible population of 4.34 lakh.

The enrolment figures recorded during the campaign also show admissions of 5.91 lakh students in Class IX and 3.08 lakh students in Class XI.

The Shala Praveshotsav and Kanya Kelavani initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2003-04 academic year when he was serving as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

This year’s campaign placed special emphasis on bringing back the estimated 6.41 lakh out-of-school children. As part of the drive, Cabinet ministers, IAS, IPS and IFS officers, along with local administrators and elected representatives, participated in enrolment efforts across the state.

Enrolment Drive at a Glance