As India marks 5 years of its National Education Policy, a significant number of children across the country continue to face barriers in accessing formal education.
Image Source: Getty Images
This essay is part of the series “Five Years of NEP 2020: From Vision to Reality”
The National Education Policy (NEP 2020) lays out a comprehensive roadmap to improve access to education, participation in schooling, and learning outcomes, particularly for children from socio-economically disadvantaged groups (SEDGs). However, approximately 1.17 million children remain out of school due to systemic gaps in the policy’s implementation. This article discusses four such groups.
The mismatch between academic calendars and migration cycles is stark: children of migrant labourers enrolled in school often attend only part of the year, typically from June to November, after which their families move for work. On paper, these children are still enrolled in school, contributing to a positive Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), but in practice, they remain out of classrooms for months altogether. The NEP explicitly recognises migrant families under SEDGs and mandates the establishment of alternative and innovative education centres through government-civil society partnerships by 2024-25. Task 68 in the Students’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement through Quality Education (SARTHAQ) implementation framework specifically targets children of migrant labourers for mainstream education integration through alternative education centres after amending Section 2(n) of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. However, there is no provision for inter-state credit transfer, portable mid‑day meals/textbook entitlements, or mobile classroom models that follow families. At the same time, although state and non-governmental initiatives such as Gujarat’s seasonal hostels, Kerala’s Jyothi registry, and worksite schools are positive developments, they remain patchy pilots without state-led expansion. The policy-to-practice gap means migrant children remain on hold, not in school. In fact, officials admit the lack of basic data: there are still no official figures estimating how many children of seasonal migrants there are nationwide. Without credible data, targeted action remains elusive.
Figure 1: Barriers to Education for Children of Seasonal Migrants
Source: IndiaSpend, 2023
Nomadic and de-notified communities, historically stigmatised by colonial-era Criminal Tribes laws, remain among the least educated in the country. And yet, they are unmapped in NEP frameworks, with no enrolment metrics, identification policies, or context-sensitive schooling available. A 2024 systematic review found that only 0.8 percent of youth from De-notified Tribes (DNTs) ever attain higher education, and in one survey, 65.6 percent of Gadia Lohar (a community of nomadic metalworkers) children had never even enrolled in school. This is staggering and represents roughly twenty times the national out-of-school rate.The Scheme for Economic Empowerment of De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (SEED) was launched by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in 2022, with a financial outlay of INR200 crore for five years (FY 2021-22 to 2025-26). SEED includes an educational empowerment component offering free coaching for competitive exams. However, as of March 2025, only 541 DNT students had benefited from this. Similarly, nongovernmental efforts such as the Eklavya India Foundation’s work with DNT youth receive negligible policy support. As a result, generations of DNT youth remain disenfranchised.
Figure 2: Barriers Faced by Children from De-Notified & Nomadic Tribes
Source: Raziq and Popat, 2024
NEP frames inclusive education as a key priority, drawing from the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. It outlines a range of measures meant to support children with disabilities: barrier-free access to schools, the use of assistive technologies, options for regular, special, or home-based learning, and the establishment of dedicated resource centres for children with high-support needs. It also calls for teachers to be trained in inclusive methods and for curricular frameworks that reflect the diversity of learners in the classroom.However, basic infrastructure for accessibility, such as ramps, handrails, and adapted toilets, remains inconsistent. Although the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exam pass rates for Children with Disabilities (CwDs) soared to 93.2 percent in Class XII, gaps persist in school-level infrastructure, qualified educators, and universal audits.
Notably, the NEP identifies transgender students as a priority: it mandates a Gender-Inclusion Fund to ensure safe facilities — including toilets, hostels, and scholarships — for girls and transgender children. Despite this inaugural step, factors like gendered and binary school uniform codes and open bullying contribute to disproportionately high dropout rates among queer students. In 2023, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) released a draft module titled “Integrating Transgender Concerns in Schooling Processes.” However, this is yet to be formally implemented, and broader LGBTQ+ concerns — such as inclusion of non-binary identities, harassment prevention in schools, and queer-inclusive curricula — remain unaddressed under the NEP. The policy does not explicitly protect students based on sexual orientation, nor does it mandate institutional mechanisms to prevent bullying based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI). NEP’s Gender-Inclusion Fund is a start, but systemic measures like anti-bias training, counselling, and safe-campus enforcement are urgently required.
To transform NEP’s goals into lived realities, targeted and actionable reforms are essential:
It’s time to move beyond static models of schooling. At the outset, target districts need to be identified where seasonal out-migration rates are the highest. Developmental needs, such as job opportunities throughout the year — say, through proper implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act — must be ensured to break free from intergenerational barriers to employment that fuel migration. The Ministry of Education should introduce Migrant Student IDs that are usable across state lines, linking school records, mid-day meal entitlements, and textbooks. This must be backed by clear interstate coordination. Equally important is the need to scale up seasonal hostels and worksite schools – models already functional in states like Gujarat and Telangana. These steps are not “innovations” anymore; they are a long-overdue necessity. Finally, mobile mother-tongue classrooms, designed to follow predictable migration routes, can help keep children in school even as their families move.
De-notified and nomadic communities cannot be integrated into education systems until they are recognised and recorded. The first step is to include disaggregated data in national education datasets like UDISE+ so that targeted measures can be undertaken. From there, the state must invest in scholarships, provide mentoring support for first-generation learners and offer bridge learning programmes that are flexible in time, language, and delivery. Equally important is partnering with grassroots organisations that have earned the trust of DNT families and can act as vital intermediaries between school systems and communities.
Every school must be audited annually for accessibility: this includes ramps, adapted toilets, and inclusive classroom layouts. Policymaking must take into account that without trained special educators, these investments will not yield desired benefits. The NEP should mandate a minimum ratio of trained teachers for children with disabilities and offer incentives for educators to gain certification in inclusive practices. The CBSE’s recent success with board exam support for CwDs shows what is possible. This progress must now be replicated in classrooms across the country, not just in exam halls.
The NEP’s Gender Inclusion Fund, while a step forward, needs urgent expansion to cover the full spectrum of queer identities, not just transgender students. At the very least, the RTE must be amended to include explicit anti-bullying protections for LGBTQ+ students. Sensitivity training in gender and sexuality for every teacher and administrator, and confidential support systems for students experiencing discrimination in every school, are a must. The NCERT’s draft manual must be expedited, adopted nationally, and included in teacher training curricula. Additionally, there is a need for specialised support through school counsellors and parent engagement programs. States should pilot safe-space clubs and peer support, which can provide affirming spaces for LGBTQ+ youth.
NEP sets out a vision for a more inclusive and pluralistic education system. Yet, for many groups, access to meaningful education remains uneven. Without consistent enforcement, targeted funding, and mandatory inclusion training for educators and administrators, these communities continue to be left out of the system’s promise of equity. To close this gap, inclusion must be operationalised, not just envisioned, through enforceable policy, accountability, and sustained investment.
Ishika Ranjan is a Research Intern with the Centre for New Economic Diplomacy at the Observer Research Foundation.
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Ishika Ranjan is a Research Intern at the Observer Research Foundation’s Centre for New Economic Diplomacy and a final-year undergraduate at Ashoka University, studying Economics ...
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