West Bengal forms panel to decide fate of 933 schools with no students, may hand buildings to other depts

The West Bengal government has set up a committee to decide the future of 933 primary and high schools that have had no students for several years, school education minister Dipak Burman said.

Addressing the media at his home in Falakata in Alipurduar district, Burman said the buildings, land, playgrounds and other assets of these schools were lying unused, and that some schools have effectively stopped functioning.

One option under consideration is to make school properties available to other government departments. “The thought is whether there can be an interdepartmental exchange. We will give it to the government and they will decide next,” Burman said, adding that the education department would examine the proposal.

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West Bengal: Zero-, low-enrollment schools

The proposal comes against the backdrop of a wider issue of zero- and low-enrolment schools in West Bengal. The latest UDISE+ data shows that 4,133 schools in the state reported zero enrolment in 2025-26, with nearly 19,500 teachers posted in these schools. The state government has ordered physical verification of these institutions to establish their current status and examine their infrastructure.

Asked about schools with a small number of students and those with fewer teachers, Burman said the government was working to ensure that schools had the required number of teachers.

Burman clarified that future recruitment through the School Service Commission would address the staffing requirements of schools.“The process is going on and hopefully … by 2027 academic year, every school will have the required teachers,” he said.

A teacher transfer policy introduced by the state allows teachers and sanctioned posts to be shifted from schools with zero or very low enrolment to institutions with teacher vacancies. According to government data, 6,769 schools have a single teacher, together serving around 2.3 lakh students.

A CAG audit of Samagra Shiksha implementation in West Bengal between 2019-20 and 2023-24 identified 5,152 schools with only one teacher, affecting 1,76,491 students. Another 520 schools had no teachers.

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West Bengal remote-area schools to continue

Burman said schools in remote areas with fewer students would continue. “Even if there are schools in remote areas where students are less, population is less and no other school nearby, that school will continue to function. But, if we see that there are a number of schools nearby, we will have to think about those,” he said.

On teacher availability, Burman said the government expected the ongoing recruitment process to address vacancies, while future recruitment would take into account the requirements of individual schools.

The Supreme Court's April 2025 judgment cancelled the appointments of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff appointed through the 2016 recruitment process. A fresh recruitment process has since been initiated. The 2025 SSC recruitment includes more than 35,000 assistant-teacher vacancies for Classes 9 to 12.