In a setback to Kerala’s universal literacy story, 2,914 children dropped out of school in 2024-25, including 1,070 children of migrant workers.

According to an Education Department report, poverty forced 43 children to abandon their studies, while lack of interest in education, family problems and mobile phone addiction pushed hundreds of others out of the school system.

Boys accounted for more than half of the dropouts from Classes 1 to 10. Ernakulam recorded the highest number of dropouts at 535, most of them children of migrant workers.

Wayanad and Malappuram reported the highest number of dropouts among Malayali children. Wayanad alone accounted for 465 students who discontinued their studies. Financial hardship was a major reason for school dropouts in Wayanad, Palakkad, Malappuram and Idukki.

The report also highlighted the vulnerability of children from marginalised communities. As many as 259 students from Scheduled Caste communities and 627 from Scheduled Tribe communities dropped out of school. The dropout rate among children from these communities has risen since the COVID pandemic.

The Education Department said it was drawing up a scheme to bring children who had discontinued their studies back to school.

Mobile phone addiction prompted 33 children to discontinue their studies during the last academic year alone. Police cases, alcohol consumption and drug use were among the other factors disrupting education. Dropouts were most prevalent at the high school level.

Why 1,510 children quit school
Lack of interest in studies - 704
Change of residence - 245
Troubled family background -174
Illness or accident -163
Preference for religious studies -103
Parents' negative attitude towards education -78
Poverty - 43