Jharkhand to launch child register survey on November 10 to identify out-of-school children

The Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC) is set to launch an intensive drive to update the state’s child register, commencing with field data collection from November 10, 2026. This thorough door-to-door household survey aims to identify out-of-school children, including those who have dropped out or were never enrolled, across Jharkhand.

The exercise is designed to track the enrolment status of children aged between three and 18 years, with a target of zero dropouts across all villages and wards. The initiative is part of the government’s effort to strengthen the education system and guarantee access to schooling for every child, with final completion targeted for January 10, 2027.

Survey Methodology and Timeline

Teachers from all government elementary, secondary, and higher secondary schools, along with those from tagged government-aided schools, will conduct the door-to-door household survey. Non-government schools will also be mapped alongside government institutions to ensure detailed coverage. JEPC project director Shashi Ranjan has issued detailed guidelines to all District Superintendents of Education (DSEs) and District Education Officers (DEOs) regarding the drive.

The entire survey will be carried out digitally using JEPC’s ‘DAHAR 2.0’ portal, which stands for Digital Application for big-picture Action Plan and Review for Out of School. Data will be uploaded in real time through a mobile application. Field data collection is scheduled to run from November 10, 2026, to January 1, 2027, with the final completion of the survey targeted for January 10, 2027.

Objectives and Expected Outcomes

The primary purpose of this intensive drive is to identify out-of-school children to help formulate the annual work plan and budget for Samagra Shiksha for the 2027–28 financial year. School-wise data will be prepared for re-enrollment for the next academic session, aiming to ensure no child in the state remains outside the education system. According to education officer Vinay Kumar, the survey represents a concrete step toward connecting every child in Jharkhand with formal education.

The survey findings are expected to help shape policy for the 2026 academic session and influence planning and resource allocation as Jharkhand works to build a dropout-free school system. In the previous survey, nearly 59,000 children in Jharkhand were found to be out of school. This time, the education department has set a target of zero dropouts across all villages and wards for this survey.

Monitoring and Community Participation

The survey reports will feed directly into a state-level monitoring portal. Headmasters have been instructed to submit timely information from their respective areas, and district education officers will be responsible for ensuring that no school’s data remains pending. Field verification and monitoring systems have been strengthened to prevent disruptions to learning.

Local panchayats, school management committees, and voluntary organisations are expected to support the survey. Education officer Vinay Kumar stated that community participation will be essential for the success of the survey. The exercise will also test the state’s capacity to use technology for education monitoring.

Written by Nishit Kumar

Nishit Kumar is a senior EdTech industry leader with over a decade of experience in building and scaling education platforms, shaping their product, content, and growth strategy. At FindMyCollege, Nishit oversees content and editorial strategy, guiding topic selection and content frameworks to ensure accuracy, relevance, and student-first value across the website.

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Further reading

• NEET PG 2026: Register for Round 2 by November 11; fill choices by November 12
• NEET PG 2026 Jharkhand provisional merit list released: submit corrected documents by November 1
• JEE Main 2027: Register & upload documents by November 22; update Aadhaar
• AIBE 22: Register by October 27 for November 29 exam
• AICTE PDF 2024-25: Register by November 15