LUCKNOW, April 29 -- The first phase of the Uttar Pradesh Basic Siksha Parishad's 'School Chalo Abhiyan' (student enrollment drive), held between April 1 and 15, concluded with over 41,000 primary and upper primary schools failing to register a single new admission for the 2026-27 academic session. These institutions represent nearly one-third of the 1.32 lakh Parishad schools, according to data from the department's Prerna Portal. However the officials attributed this gap to delay in uploading data. A recent review by the basic education department found that 41,823 schools across the state recorded zero new students by April 20. The data shows the situation is particularly concerning in entry-level classes: 25,995 schools reported no admissions in Class 1, and 16,228 schools saw no enrollment in Class 6. District-wise data highlights widespread gaps. Agra reported the highest number of zero-admission schools in Class 1 (1,136), with 507 schools also reporting zero enrollment in Class 6. In the state capital, Lucknow, more than 800 schools reported similar trends. Other districts, including Azamgarh (940 zero-admission schools in Class 1) and Bahraich (945), also indicated enrollment struggle. The basic education department, however, claimed that the overall enrollment pace is high, with over 879,000 new children enrolled statewide within the first 20 days of the drive. Officials attributed the high number of zero-admission schools to a lag in uploading data to the Prerna Portal....