BIKANER, Nov. 14 -- Girls outnumber boys by over 514,000 in Rajasthan's government schools, accounting for a 53.24% slice of the total enrolment figures so far this year, according to the latest figures shared by the state school education department. The data records 1,139 girl students per every 1,000 boys in government schools, and also records an increase in overall enrolment for the first time in five years. The department recorded 7,937,136 students in government schools, compared with 7,250,496 in the 2025-26 academic year. This represents an increase of 686,640 students. Of the total enrolment, 4,225,545 are girls, 3,710,989 are boys and 602 are transgender students. Girls account for 53.24% of the total, boys make up 46.75%. The difference between the number of girls and boys is 514,556 students. Additional chief secretary (school education) Rajesh Kumar Yadav said around 4.86 lakh more girls were enrolled this year, attributing the increase to growing trust and awareness towards girls' education. Sanskrit education institutions also recorded higher enrolment of girls than boys. The state has 1,879 Sanskrit schools with a combined enrolment of 124,155 students, including 64,822 girls and 59,333 boys. Girls account for 52.21% of Sanskrit school enrolment, compared with 47.79% for boys, and outnumber them by 5,489. The figures have been reported alongside the Rajasthan Shiksha Setu Abhiyan, through which the department sought to identify children who were out of school and bring them into the education system. The campaign focused on girls, children with special needs, migrant children, child labourers and children from tribal and nomadic communities. Yadav described the campaign as a social responsibility in addition to an administrative duty. Under the Rajasthan Shiksha Setu Abhiyan, every school principal was asked to assign a teacher the responsibility of identifying and enrolling an out-of-school child. The teacher was to contact the child's family, facilitate admission and upload the relevant details to the Shala Darpan portal. Each admission was to be monitored through a dashboard. Principals were also directed to survey villages, dhanis and other habitations within their school areas to identify children who were not enrolled. If no child was found to be left out of enrolment in a school's area, the principal was required to submit a certificate to the Chief Block Education Officer (CBEO). Information received at the block office was to be forwarded to the Chief District Education Officer (CDEO). The monitoring mechanism included reviews by CBEOs every 15 days, oversight by district education officials and monthly reviews by district collectors. Enrolment was also to be tracked weekly at the school level. The department directed officials to deploy surplus teachers in schools facing staff shortages. The campaign was conducted in two phases and the official admission process was completed on July 25. District-wise figures available as on November 3 showed that the increase in enrolment was not uniform across Rajasthan. Banswara recorded the highest rise, with 11,939 additional students, followed by Udaipur with 9,448, Barmer with 5,937, Jalore with 5,485 and Sirohi with 4,295. At the same time, 13 districts recorded a decline compared with the previous academic year. Sikar reported the largest fall, with 4,064 fewer students, followed by Jodhpur with 3,967 and Dausa with 3,534. The other districts reporting a decline were Ajmer (2,915), Sri Ganganagar (1,974), Tonk (1,961), Kotputli-Behror (1,639), Jaipur (1,618), Didwana-Kuchaman (1,320), Alwar (492), Phalodi (398), Churu (259) and Nagaur (134). The department said it was reviewing enrolment in districts reporting a decline, with a focus on identifying children who remained out of school. The department had recorded 72,50,496 students in the 2025-26 academic year. The latest enrolment of 79,37,136 represents an increase of 6,86,640 students, or 9.47%, over the previous academic year. The November 3 figures had put enrolment at 72,98,854 for July 2026, 48,358 higher than the 2025-26 total. The department has since updated the enrolment records....