Over 1 lakh students in Haryana drop out of school system in 3 years

More than one lakh students have dropped out of Haryana's school education system over the past three years, with 11,788 students dropping out during the current academic session, according to the latest Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) data.

The data was taken up for discussion during a videoconferencing meeting chaired by Director, Secondary Education, Jitender Dahiya.

As many as 1,01,278 students have been reported as dropouts between 2023 and 2026. Of these, 46,038 were enrolled in schools run by the Education Department, while 55,240 belonged to schools other than those run by the department, including private schools.

Nuh has emerged as the biggest concern, accounting for 19,252 dropouts during the three-year period. Faridabad follows with 17,782, while Karnal has recorded 9,815. Gurugram and Sirsa have reported 8,570 and 7,670 dropouts, respectively.

Among other districts, Panipat has recorded 5,058 dropouts, followed by Yamunanagar (4,796), Kurukshetra (3,648) and Hisar (3,088).

During the current academic year, 3,797 students from Education Department schools and 7,991 students from other schools have been reported as dropouts. Gurugram has recorded the highest number at 1,122, followed by Nuh (1,054), Rewari (1,030), Karnal (928) and Faridabad (927).

The UDISE+ data has also highlighted a larger concern over students whose whereabouts or educational status remain unclear. As many as 2,36,274 students across Haryana have been categorised under "status not known" for 2026-27. Faridabad accounts for 30,722 such students, followed by Gurugram (22,986), Nuh (22,354), Karnal (19,866) and Sirsa (16,332).

The high dropout numbers have raised questions over both the reasons for students leaving the school system and the effectiveness of mechanisms to track them after they discontinue studies at their existing schools.

Officials said another videoconferencing meeting would be held tomorrow to discuss ways to trace the students who have dropped out and facilitate their return to school.

District Project Coordinator, Hisar, Vijender Singh, said the issue had been discussed by senior state officials and efforts were being made to trace the dropout students and enrol them back in schools.