5,663 schools have no students on the register, and 4,133 of them are in one state

The national school information system records 5,663 schools with zero enrolment, and 4,133 of them, about 73%, are in West Bengal. The state has ordered physical verification of every one of them, through committees headed by district magistrates.

The numbers behind the order

• 19,502 teachers are listed against the zero-enrolment schools in the state's records.
• 6,769 schools in the state are run by a single teacher, between them serving 2,29,569 students.
• Verification reports are due by December 2027.

Data error or empty building?

The state's school education minister has said much of this is a reporting problem: many of these schools did not upload their data properly, and some updated teacher information without updating student details. That is a plausible explanation for part of the list, and the verification exercise exists to find out how large that part is.

The committees will assess land, buildings, the condition of infrastructure, basic amenities, and whether a building could serve another public use such as a training centre or health facility. The minister has been careful to say this is not a blanket decision to close or convert zero-enrolment schools, leaving room to revive those that can be revived.

Why it matters beyond one state

Enrolment data drives teacher deployment, grants and school-consolidation decisions across the country. A school that exists on paper but not in practice absorbs a teaching post that a crowded school nearby needs; a school wrongly recorded as empty can lose the support that keeps it alive. Both errors damage children, and only a physical visit tells them apart.

CareerBox News Desk, reporting on the zero-enrolment school figures in the Unified District Information System for Education Plus and the verification ordered by the West Bengal school education department. Official portal: udiseplus.gov.in. Dates and eligibility change; confirm them on the official portal before you act.