No schools to be closed in Uttar Pradesh, institutions with low enrolment to be merged: Minister

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Basic Education, Sandeep Singh, on Tuesday told the Assembly that the state government has not decided to close a single school. The minister was responding to queries by Samajwadi Party legislators Pankaj Patel, Anil Pradhan and Prabhu Narayan Singh Yadav during Question Hour on the second day of the Monsoon Session.

Patel claimed that 88 lakh children had dropped out of school due to poor educational standards, and raised concern over the recent merger of some schools . In his reply, Singh clarified that no schools were being shut. However, institutions with fewer than 50 students were being merged with other schools located within a 1 km radius to ensure smooth teaching operations, he said.

Enrolment and early learning

The minister added that children are enrolled in schools at the age of six, with those aged three to six encouraged to attend Anganwadi centres for early learning. According to Singh, primary schools in the state have 10,493,389 enrolled students, with 417,886 approved teaching positions, of which 338,590 are currently filled. Upper primary schools have 4,314,803 students, with 162,198 sanctioned teaching posts, and 120,860 teachers in service, the minister said.