While the state government is striving to ensure education reaches every last child, these figures present a concerning picture. The latest data from the U-DISE Plus has shown that 1,19,000 students across the state have been recorded as ‘out-of-school’ over the past year. The data includes 1,542 school student deaths and 1,18,997 students who are out of school.

The Department of School Education has, however, attributed the rise in out-of-school students to discrepancies in Aadhaar card registration. The department  has clarified that issues such as name changes or mismatches in the date of birth during the Aadhaar verification process have resulted in students being incorrectly listed as out-of-school. This problem is even more prevalent in remote districts where many people do not possess Aadhaar cards.