Of 10.13 lakh government schools across India, 5,149 have no students at all. And more than 70 per cent of these schools reporting zero enrolment in the 2024-25 academic year are in Telangana and West Bengal, according to government data. The broader category of schools with less than 10 or zero enrolment has also seen a sharp surge, reveals data shared by the education ministry in Parliament recently. The number of such government schools grew by 24 per cent over the last two years -- from 52,309 in 2022-23 to 65,054 in 2024-25. These schools now account for 6.42 per cent of the country's total government schools, the government said in a written reply to questions by MPs Karti P Chidambaram and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring in the Lok Sabha. While Telangana has approximately 2,081 zero enrolment schools, West Bengal has 1,571 such institutions. Telangana's Nalgonda district recorded the highest number of empty schools in the state as well as the country at 315. Mahabubabad with 167