New Delhi, June 2 -- Over 10,000 unrecognised school are operational in Jharkhand and Bihar, with over 1.6 million students enrolled in those schools, in violation of the Right to Education Act, data from the minutes of a recent Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting of the education ministry has shown.

With 5,879 such schools, Jharkhand has the highest number of unrecognised schools in the country with an enrolment of 837,897 students and 46,421 teachers, the data showed, while Bihar has 4,915 such schools with an enrolment of 775,704 students and 42,377 teachers.

The observation came during PAB meetings for the approval of budget and plans under Samagra Shiksha scheme for 2025-26 with officials from all states between March and April 20...