27000 government schools may be closed in UP!, Mayawati, Priyanka Gandhi, Kejriwal attack, what did the Basic Education Department say

Opposition parties have attacked the Yogi government over the news of closing down more than 27 thousand basic and upper primary schools with less than 50 students and merging them with other schools. Mayawati, Kejriwal and Priyanka Gandhi have tweeted on social media about this. At the same time, let us know what the Basic Education Department has said about this.

Mayawati said that this decision is not right: BSP National President Mayawati has posted on social media platform X that the decision of the Uttar Pradesh government to close down 27,764 council primary and upper primary schools with less than 50 students and merge them with other schools instead of taking necessary measures to improve them by making necessary improvements is not right. In such a situation, where and how will the poor children study? In Uttar Pradesh and most of the states of the country, especially primary and secondary education is in a very bad condition, due to which crores of children from poor families are constantly deprived of education, let alone good education. The decision of the Odisha government to close schools with less students is also inappropriate. The result of such anti-poor and anti-people policies of the government is that people are being forced to educate their children in private schools, as is clear from the survey. It is not right for the government to close these schools instead of making necessary improvements by giving adequate funds and attention to education.

Priyanka Gandhi also targeted: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi also attacked on social media regarding the closure of 27 thousand schools in UP. She has written that the BJP government of Uttar Pradesh has decided to close 27,764 primary and junior schools. This step is against the education sector as well as the children of Dalit, backward, poor and deprived sections. Condemning this, she has written that such a decision should not be taken.

Arvind Kejriwal also targeted: Former Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal has expressed surprise at this decision of the Yogi government. He has shared a post on social media and cited the schools of Delhi. In this, he claimed how the AAP party has made these schools world-class with hard work and has made arrangements for education. At the same time, targeting CM Yogi, he wrote that on the other hand, preparations are underway to close government schools in UP.

How many government schools are there in UP: Let us tell you that there are a total of 4 lakh 50 thousand basic schools in UP. Among these, a large number of schools have less than 50 students. Recently, Kanchan Verma had sought details of such schools through the portal, in which the number of students is less than 50. It was found that the number of such schools is 27,931.

How many schools and children in UP

Note: Estimated number of children in schools is calculated on the ratio of 50 per school

Will children be shifted to other schools: There is a discussion that the government intends to merge schools with less number of students with other schools. The number of students in schools which have more than 50 students should be increased. However, the problem in this can be that if there is only one government school in a village panchayat and its student strength is less than 50, then the children of that school will be shifted to a school with more number of students in a distant village. Such children and their parents will face problems. At the same time, BSP and AAP have attacked the education department’s preparations.

Children not coming even after giving mid-day meal: Yogi government has made arrangements to give mid-day meal to bring children to school. Despite this, the number of students in 27,931 schools is less than 50. Children are not coming to school.

Under RTE, school should be at a distance of 1 kilometer: Primary Teachers Association official says that according to Right to Education Act, there should be a primary school within a radius of 1 kilometer and an upper primary school within a radius of 3 kilometers. This rule was made so that no child is deprived of education due to distance from the school. If schools are merged then this rule is bound to be violated. The association says that even when the RTE rule came, there were thousands of schools in the state in which the number of students was less than 50. Even after that, the governments got the schools constructed and tried to ensure that education reaches every child. If these schools are merged then the department needs to think once on how the children studying in rural areas should go to another village to get education.

Decision will be taken in the next meeting: Director General of School Education Kanchan Verma has given instructions to all the District Basic Education Officers in this regard in the recent review meeting. It has also been said that the next meeting will be held on 13th or 14th November in this matter. In which all BSAs have been asked to come with full preparation and settlement of all objections. At the same time, it has been said by the Basic Education Department that no decision to close the schools is going to be taken at the moment. A post has also been issued on social media regarding this.

This is why the controversy of schools has erupted in UP: Director General of School Education Kanchan Verma had collected information of such schools from every district from U-DISE portal in June. The number of students in it is less than 50. The number of such schools was 27931, after which this detail was sent to the BSAs of all the districts and regretted the situation. Along with this, instructions were given to seek clarification from the schools on this. On the instructions of the DG, all BSAs are identifying such nearby schools in which schools with less than 50 children can be merged. DJ had a review meeting of the education department on 23rd October. In the meeting minutes, it was said that the civilians of the schools should also make an action plan regarding this. However, in this regard, Director General Kanchan Verma says that the details of schools with less than 50 children are being collected only to see how the performance of these schools can be improved.