HC judge's speech on UCC sparks uproar

PRAYAGRAJ: A controversial speech by a sitting Allahabad high court judge sparked a political row on Monday as Opposition parties urged Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna to take cognizance of the issue even as the organisers of the event defended the proceedings.

- HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Around 1.17 million children across India have been identified as those not enrolled in primary, secondary, and senior secondary education, or Out of School Children (OoSC), for the year 2024-25, the Union government informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.

In a written response to a query from Telugu Desam Party (TDP) lawmaker Sribharat Mathukumilli, who sought state-wise data on students not enrolled in schools, Union minister of state for education Jayant Chaudhary said that Uttar Pradesh accounted for the maximum 784,228 OoSC, of the total 1,170,404 children who remain out of school.

Uttar Pradesh was followed by Jharkhand and Assam, which reported 65,070 and 63,848 OoSC, respectively, for 2024-25, according to data provided by the minister.

The Centre describes an OoSC as a child aged six to 14 years, who has never been enrolled in an elementary school or has remained absent from school after enrollment without prior intimation for 45 days. OoSC, therefore, include both never enrolled in schools and the dropouts.

While no child has been reported out of school in the Union territories of Ladakh and Lakshadweep, there were two OoSC in Andaman and Nicobar while four in Puducherry.

Among the states, Sikkim with 74 had the minimum out of school children, the government data suggests.