Kottayam: As many as 24,525 children from outside Keralam are enrolled in public schools across the State, most of them children of inter-State migrant workers.

A report prepared by the Statistics Wing of the General Education Department shows that students from almost every State and Union Territory are studying in the public schools across Keralam. Bilingual teachers have also been deployed to help them overcome language barriers.

The total includes 13,553 boys and 10,972 girls enrolled in Classes 1 to 10. All States and Union Territories, except Mizoram, are represented in the enrolment.

Tamil Nadu tops the list with 4,294 students, followed by Assam (3,882), West Bengal (3,758), Bihar (3,380) and Uttar Pradesh (2,731). Karnataka accounts for 1,762 students, while Jharkhand and Odisha together account for 1,003. Class I has the highest enrolment among students from other States, at 4,266.

Ernakulam leads the district-wise tally with 6,506 students, followed by Malappuram (2,467), Kasaragod (2,131), Thrissur (2,029) and Kozhikode (2,028). Kannur accounts for 1,926 students and Thiruvananthapuram 1,559. Idukki has 1,349, Kottayam 951, Palakkad 924, Alappuzha 854, Kollam 680, Pathanamthitta 612 and Wayanad 509.

Foreign students too find a place
The schools in Keralam also have 336 students from abroad. Of these, 332 are from Nepal, while two are from the Maldives. Sri Lanka and the Philippines account for one student each.