Sarkar said that while the school dropout rate in Birbhum was 17.2 per cent, it was 16. 9 per cent in Murshidabad, and 16.1 percent in South 24 Parganas. According to him, the school dropout rate was above 12 per cent in all the districts.

“No one keeps a track record of what is happening to the school dropouts. There are 70 lakh migrant workers from our state, and with the conditions of unemployment, no one knows where these students are going,” Sarkar said.

Hitting out at the TMC government, Sarkar alleged there has been no development for the minorities in the state. “Murshidabad has a huge minority population. Nearly 17 per cent. Where are the dropouts going? Is any organisation taking them away. This should be looked into by the state administration and the education department,” he said.

He alleged that a majority of the universities in the state were private and have empty seats. “But no attention is being given to it. The TMC government has no interest in the uplift of the education system,” Sarkar alleged.

A recent report by the Union Education Ministry stated that the percentage of dropouts at the secondary level in West Bengal for 2023-24 academic year was 18.75 per cent.