Karnataka records 14,087 out-of-school children; ranks third in South India
Bengaluru: Karnataka has emerged as the third-highest state in South India in terms of out-of-school children, according to the latest data released by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development.
According to a report published by The New Indian Express on Saturday, information provided in Parliament in response to a question raised by Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury shows that during the 2025–26 academic year, Karnataka recorded 14,087 out-of-school children, of whom 6,462 are adolescent girls. The figures mark a sharp increase compared to the previous year.
In 2024–25, there were 9,422 out-of-school children, of whom only 115 were girls. Karnataka ranks 12th nationally, while Gujarat, Assam, and Uttar Pradesh top the chart.
In South India, Andhra Pradesh topped the list with a staggering 46,463 out-of-school children, including 17,584 adolescent girls. Tamil Nadu stood second with 19,897 children, of whom 9,054 were girls. Telangana recorded 4,753 out-of-school children, including 2,006 girls, while Kerala reported the lowest number at 1,773, with 539 girls.
The Ministry reportedly stated that it is providing free education to children through schemes such as Samagra Shiksha, upgradation and operation of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, Morarji Desai Residential Schools, free uniforms and textbooks, and the construction of hostels for SC and ST girl students, among others.
Despite these measures, thousands of children remain out of school due to persistent challenges such as lack of basic infrastructure, including toilets and drinking water, shortage of teachers, child marriage, teenage pregnancies, and the fact that free and compulsory education is mandated only up to the age of 14 and not 18. In Karnataka alone, out of 46,460 schools, around 170 schools still lack toilet facilities.
Kathyayini Chamraj, Executive Trustee at CIVIC, recently submitted a memorandum to Laxmi Hebbalkar, Minister for Women and Child Development, urging the government to introduce mandatory pre-registration marriage certificates.
Instead of police intervention at wedding venues, the government should make pre-registration marriage certificates compulsory through the tahsildar to verify the age of couples, she said, adding that this would help curb child marriages and reduce school dropouts among adolescent girls.
Chamraj also called for extending free and compulsory education to children aged 15 to 18, along with options for vocational education and apprenticeships. She emphasised that it is crucial for multiple government departments to work together, allocate funds, and ensure essential facilities such as toilets and drinking water in schools.
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ISRO successfully conducts second integrated air drop test for Gaganyaan mission
New Delhi (PTI): Space agency ISRO has successfully conducted the second integrated air drop test (IADT-02) for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission at the space station in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.
The system is essential to ensure a safe recovery of the crew module -- the capsule in which astronauts sit during a human flight -- during re-entry and landing.
Union minister Jitendra Singh congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for successfully conducting the test.
"Congratulations #ISRO for the successful accomplishment of Second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) for #Gaganyaan, India's first Human Space flight scheduled next year. The second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) was successfully conducted at Satish Dhawan Space Station Sriharikota," Singh said in a post on X.
The IADT-02 follows the successful completion of the first IADT, which took place on August 24, 2025, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Air drop tests recreate the last leg of a spacecraft's return to Earth. An aircraft or helicopter drops the spacecraft from a height to test various systems under different scenarios.
These are the deployment of the parachute system in case the mission is aborted mid-flight, system performance when one parachute fails to open and the spacecraft's orientation and safety during splashdown etc.
In the IADT-02 test, a simulated crew module, weighing about 5.7 tonnes, was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter to an altitude of about three kilometres and released over a designated drop zone in the sea, near the Sriharikota coast.
In a statement, the ISRO said, "Ten parachutes of four types were deployed in a precise sequence during the descent of the crew module, gradually reducing the velocity for safe touchdown. Subsequently, the simulated crew module was successfully recovered in coordination with the Indian Navy."
