West Bengal School Data Shows Teacher Gaps and Empty Classrooms
UDISE+ data shows West Bengal has thousands of zero-enrolment schools, single-teacher schools, high pupil-teacher ratios and major education gaps.
AC Team
West Bengal’s school education data presents a puzzling picture. Some schools have teachers but no enrolled students. Others have hundreds of students but only one teacher. The figures raise questions about school planning, staff deployment and the quality of data uploaded to government records.
The findings come from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus, or UDISE+, for 2025-26. The Department of School Education and Literacy published the report in July and uploaded it to the Union education ministry’s website in August.
4,133 schools report zero students
West Bengal has 4,133 schools with no enrolled students, according to the report. Yet, 19,502 teachers are posted in these schools.
The figure makes up almost 73 per cent of all zero-enrolment schools in India. Across the country, 5,663 schools report no students. Uttar Pradesh ranks second, with 313 such schools and 177 teachers posted there.
The number in West Bengal has also risen. In 2024-25, the state had 3,812 schools with zero enrolment and 17,965 teachers. This means the latest data shows an increase of 321 schools and 1,537 teachers in this category.
A school with no students but several teachers may sound like a scene from a strange school comedy. However, the issue may not always mean that the school has shut down. It could also point to errors in data entry or delays in updating school records.
Many students share a single teacher
At the other end of the problem are schools with too few teachers. West Bengal has 6,769 single-teacher schools with 2,29,569 students. Last year, the state had 6,482 single-teacher schools with 2,35,494 students.
This means one teacher may need to manage several classes, subjects and school duties. In smaller schools, the teacher may also handle attendance, records and administrative work. Teaching a full timetable under these conditions can be a tough task.
The state has 93,147 schools in total. Around 8 per cent have 10 or fewer students. At the same time, 8.5 per cent have more than 500 students. This gap shows how unevenly students and teachers are spread across schools.
Government points to data errors
West Bengal School Education Minister Dipak Barman said that some private schools uploaded incomplete information. According to him, certain schools entered teacher details but did not update student enrolment figures. As a result, the UDISE+ portal showed teachers in schools with zero students.
The minister said the state was working on a process to correct these records. He also said the government had begun rationalising teacher numbers. This includes moving teachers from schools with more staff to schools with no teachers or only one teacher.
The minister also referred to the lack of teacher recruitment over the past 15 years. He linked this to corruption in the recruitment process and said the government hoped to address the problems by the end of 2026.
West Bengal has one of the highest pupil-teacher ratios
UDISE+ recorded West Bengal’s pupil-teacher ratio at 30. This means there are 30 students for every teacher on average. Jharkhand had the highest ratio at 36.
West Bengal’s ratio was 29 in 2024-25. The latest figure places the state ahead of Gujarat and Bihar, which each recorded a ratio of 30 last year.
An average ratio can hide local problems. A school may have enough teachers on paper, while another school nearby may struggle with one teacher for many students. This is why teacher placement matters as much as the total number of teachers.
Digital facilities remain limited
The report also highlights gaps in school technology. Only 403 schools in West Bengal have digital libraries. Around 23,894 schools have computer facilities, while 18,374 have an internet connection.
These figures matter because digital tools can support lessons, teacher training and access to learning material. A computer room without working devices or an internet connection may look good in a report but offer little help to students.
CAG report finds teacher shortages and dropouts
A separate Comptroller and Auditor General report examined the Centre’s Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan in West Bengal between 2019-20 and 2023-24. It found high dropout rates, overcrowded classrooms and poor use of funds.
The audit found that 520 schools with 8,596 students had no teachers at all. Another 5,152 schools, with more than 1.76 lakh students, had only one teacher.
The CAG also found that 29 per cent of primary schools and 30 per cent of upper-primary schools did not meet the required student-teacher ratio. The shortage stood at 31,684 teachers in primary schools and 2,058 teachers in upper-primary schools.
At the higher secondary level, 79 per cent of schools had more students than the prescribed teacher ratio allows.
Student dropouts added another concern. The audit found a 28 to 42 per cent loss in the transition from upper primary to higher secondary education. Among surveyed students who left school, 53 per cent cited poverty or financial pressure. Others mentioned a lack of interest, migration for work and marriage.
The reports leave one task that cannot wait for another spreadsheet update: checking each school record on the ground. That means confirming student enrolment, teacher attendance, classroom strength and access to basic learning tools at the school level.
