Kanpur: A year after Yogi Adityanath’s school mergers, many pushed out of mainstream education

KANPUR: For over a year, Iqra Hasan, 12, has sold corn with her mother at a crossing of narrow lanes near Chamanganj Road, Kanpur Nagar. Till January 2023, she attended the Basic Primary School, Chamanganj A (I), Kanpur Nagar. That month, the school was closed and all its students moved to Composite Model School, Premnagar. It is set outside the tight-knit community Hasan comes from and across busy roads. Since then, Hasan has been out of school and a full-time assistant to her mother.

Hasan wasn’t the only one to give the new school a miss. As many as nine schools were merged into the Composite Model School, Premnagar, and its roll-strength was expected to rise to 500. By September 2024, only 150 had shown up. Similarly, Composite Kanya Vidyalaya Karachi Khana in Sadar Bazar, Kanpur Nagar, which had two primary schools merged into it, was expecting over 200 students; only about 90 are coming to school.

In January, last year, around 101 schools were closed and merged into larger schools for not meeting 19 parameters of Operation Kayakalp, a project launched by the Yogi Adiyanath-led government to boost school infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh. According to reports, another 28,000 schools – this time ones with low enrolment – are set for closure across Uttar Pradesh.

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But in Kanpur, at least, the shift has pushed many students out of mainstream education. Muslim children from some of Kanpur’s poorest neighbourhoods have now moved to madrassas – centres of Islamic learning – and in the case of girls like Hasan, simply dropped out. “The school is very far for us and we can’t afford to pay Rs 50 each day just for school,” said her mother, adding that she took the step despite knowing the school would provide meals, books and uniform.

The main intention behind the merger was to save resources by closing schools with low enrolment and directing them at larger, composite schools with better facilities. The composite schools have quality furniture and smart boards. But the process hasn’t rationalised the use of resources.

“While the shifting is just on the ground, many of the shifted schools are not merged on paper, with rent of the small primary schools still being paid,” said Satyendra Jain, academic resource person, Kanpur Nagar.

“After the school closed down last year, we admitted our son, Ashfaq, into a government-aided Uttar Pradesh board affiliated Halim Inter College, near our home,” said Baby. Her son was in the same school as Hasan.

UP Govt’s Operation Kayakalp: Shift to madrasas

RK Tripathi, head teacher, Composite Kanya Vidyalaya Karachi Khana, Sadar Bazar, Kanpur Nagar explained, “Last year 101 schools, whose buildings were dilapidated or on rent, were shifted into other big schools which had permanent government buildings.”

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Two primary schools with 55 and 58 students, respectively, were merged into Tripathi’s school and the total roll-strength was expected to be 206. But the number of students declined. “Now, only 90 students are coming to school. Many students, after the shift, have either moved to government aided or private schools. Of 113 students from the two schools, only 20-25 children are coming. A few have also cleared the school,” he added.

Careers360 attempted to trace some of the children who were shifted from their old schools but haven’t reported to the new ones and found several who have stopped going and are working. Baby moved her son to the madrassa but her daughter, who was also studying in the same primary school in Chamanganj, is out of school.

“We weren’t informed about the location of the new school after the shift,” said Baby, “The teacher of the previous school called us but it wasn’t clear how far the school is and considering our girl is growing up, we didn’t find it feasible to travel far,” said Baby.

Another family with two children, aged 11 and 12 and earlier studying in Classes 1 and 2 at Patkapur School, is now sending them to a neighbourhood madrassa. “We couldn't send our children to the new school because it's far from our home,” said their mother, asking not to be named. “The children have to cross the whole long stretch of road, approximately 2 km - 2.5 km, and our pocket does not allow spending Rs 50 per day. From last year, we have admitted our children into Madrasa Siddiqua Niswan School, Kanpur. This school is nearby with no expense on the travel and I can drop them myself.”

Pranoti Mishra was head teacher, UPS Patkapur, which shifted to Composite Kanya Vidyalaya Karachi Khana. “Despite informing parents about the shifting of the school, many parents found it far due to a road in between,” she said. “Plus, parents with small kids found travelling every day a hassle. They told us they would get their children admitted to a nearest government aided school.”

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Many parents also complained that they were turned away when teachers had election duty. The General Elections were held in 2024 and preparation for it began in 2023 itself.

The mother of one student who has been going to the Karachi Khana, Sadar Bazar since last year stated, “Both my boys were turned away by the head-tecaher as their teacher had gone on an election duty. This has happened many times and with other students as well.” Several other parents echoed her.

Plus, there were gaps in the schools’ efforts to alert children and the families about the shift.

“Many children came to this school even months after its closure,” said a shopkeeper working close to the Chamanganj school. “Teachers should have informed the guardians. After visiting the school many times, they either moved into nearby schools or are working with their parents.”

In some cases, the absence of Aadhaar cards made the transfer difficult. “Many parents are not able to make their ward’s Aadhar due to lack of a birth certificate which costs Rs 500- Rs 800 currently. These families don't have that kind of money to pay. Even the process is more complex now and no school can admit children without Aadhar,” stated Mishra.

UP Govt Schools: Attendance already a challenge

Jain explained how the mergers have destroyed the already tenuous contact these children had with formal education. Even when their original schools were open, many of these children had to be pushed to go, he pointed out. Coming from extremely poor families of daily-wage labourers and shop-attendants, many of them are also put to work.

“Parents push them to work and earn some money as they come from extremely poor families,” said Tripathi. “Many parents are not even aware of the relevance of education. It is difficult to deal with these parents who are unaware of the value of education.” Teachers, by and large, see the mergers as a retrograde step.

“It wasn’t a good step. Our previous school had all the facilities. The only issue was that the school building was very old, more than 100 years. The department could have redeveloped it. At least children from that area could have received proper education,” said Tiwari.

Further a few teachers also hinted that orders have come now that more mergers will happen for schools with 30-50 children to be shifted into larger schools. “But this is against the Right to Education Act which mandates at least one government school within 1 km of every neighbourhood. Now there are many wards which don't have any government schools,” said Tripathi.