UP school merger ‘anti-education’, ‘will further marginalise weaker sections of society’

The Uttar Pradesh government’s recent decision on the UP school merger has left several students, teachers, and school heads heartbroken, disappointed, and angry with many schools crying for help. Teachers and opposition leaders have extended support to the districts housing the soon-to-be-closed schools, demanding roll back of the move. Yogi Adityanath-led government has sent school closure orders to district education officers of 75 districts in the state ‘confidentially’, according to activists.

While the government plans to shut down schools with low enrolment, several school heads have argued that the merger of UP schools will harm the education of poor and economically backward children. They complained that the merger of schools with ‘nearest’ school will force students to travel at least three-to-four kilometres for attending classes, which will increase the dropout rate and promote evil practices such as child marriage in the rural areas.

Last year itself, the BJP government denied the reports alleging closure of 27,000 schools across the state, after facing backlash from opposition groups. In Kanpur, the school merger has already disrupted the lives of many, pushing them out of mainstream education.

In a lengthy post, Chandra Shekhar Aazad, Member of Parliament, hit out at the government for the decision and explained how it’s going to affect the lives of children in villages. Criticising the move, he said, “The decision of the Uttar Pradesh government to merge 27,965 primary schools in the state is not just anti-education but is also a clear violation of Article 21A of the Constitution of India, the Right to Education Act (RTE Act 2009) and Article 46 of the Directive Principles of State Policy and the basic spirit of social justice.”

Due to this school merger policy, the posts of 1,40,000 teachers, 56,000 Shiksha Mitras and 56,000 cooks will become irrelevant, he claimed, and called it an attack on education as well as the livelihood of lakhs of families.

‘School merger will further marginalise backward communities’

“The biggest losers from this decision will be the children of villages, especially those from Dalit, tribal, backward and poor sections. The schools which are being closed by calling them "small" are the basic identity of self-confidence, community connection and life for the children of villages.”

“When the government says "the nearest school will be merged", it means that now children will have to travel 3 to 5 kilometres away. The direct impact of this will be that the school dropout rate will increase, especially girls will be forced to leave school in large numbers. As a result, evil practices like child labour and child marriage will raise their head again, and the continuity of children's education will be broken,” the Bhim Army chief said.

“I want to tell the Minister that schools are not being closed, but the future of children is being closed. Remember Chief Minister, if schools are far away then daughters are helpless!,” Aazad remarked. He wants that school merger policy should be immediately stopped, local school should be guaranteed in every village as per the Constitution and RTE Act, public participation and decentralization should be promoted instead of privatization and centralization in education.

Taking a jibe at the UP government, opposition leader Akhilesh Yadav said that the education is being ruined with this decision. The voice of teachers is meaningless for the BJP government, as if it has become deaf, he charged. "If there are fewer schools, the growth rate will also fall and the government will not have to provide jobs, this is the strategy of the BJP.” He said that a government which does not have compassion should not exist.

Girls will be mostly affected by school merger

Allahabad University graduate said, “On one hand they boast of 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao', on the other hand, such decisions! Girls will face the most problems due to school merger...they will not be able to go to far-off schools!

Uttar Pradesh Junior High School Teachers Association, and village heads of Chitrakoot and Raebareli districts also protested the closure and non-adjustment of the basic schools and wrote to the CM.

“I respectfully inform you that there are 3 primary schools and 1 pre-secondary school in my village panchayat, in which poor children are getting better education. The government is in the process of merging primary schools Tarkol and Faridgarh. The school where the merger process is going on is about 2 km away. It will not be easy for children to go there; poor children should not be kept away from education. My entire village council is hurt by this decision. Sir, I request you not to merge the schools of my village council, otherwise education will go far away from poor children, which will not be easy to compensate. All of us villagers will be grateful to you,” said Raebareli Gram Pradhan Neelam Maurya in a letter to CM.

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A student organisation head called the decision ‘dictatorial’ and said in a statement, “Government schools were created so that the children of poor parents could also be educated. But the decision to merge more than 27,000 government schools in UP is a dictatorial decision which should be withdrawn immediately by the Yogi government.”

A teacher also commented on the policy and wrote in a post, “Closing a school means closing the doors of hope for the deprived, exploited and backward people of that village. Then Eklavya's thumb was taken away, today the schools of the deprived, oppressed and backward are being snatched away.”