Uttar Pradesh reverses first school merger plan modification to maintain pupil access

The government of Uttar Pradesh has reversed some of its important primary school merger policy. This is against the backdrop of increasing outrage among villages whose pupils were to have longer distances to walk to school or hazardous routes after small schools are closed.

Not more than one kilometre between any government school and another will be consolidated from now on. Furthermore, no school with over 50 students will be permitted to alter its size, the Basic Education Department stipulated in new guidelines.

RULES TO ENSURE SAFER, CLOSER ACCESS TO SCHOOLS

Basic Education Minister Sandeep Singh validated it, stating it was done to ensure students' ease of access to education. "We are keeping in view the convenience, safety and education of the children," he added.

The state had earlier rigidly promoted a merger drive to integrate the school chain in dispersed enrolling villages. But it faced resistance from teachers' unions and panchayats upset that closures would contribute to the difficulty for children, particularly in far-flung villages, to go to school every day.

And then exceptions have been made by the government. Schools separated by a railway line, a river, or a road will not be consolidated, albeit one kilometre from another school.

Vacant school buildings will also not sit idle. These will be utilized to operate Anganwadi centres or Balvatika units for pre-primary education, retaining the facility occupied by smaller children in the region.

The previous policy of consolidation had confused and frightened the air in much of the state. Parents were not certain whether their neighborhood schools would close, and some believed their children would have to travel far or even traverse dangerous ground to go to a school elsewhere.

With the cuts, the government is attempting to set things right by reducing school facilities where required but not removing the minimum access. The teachers' unions too appreciated the step, terming it as a 'corrective measure'.

In most areas, even a few more kilometres to school can lead children, and particularly girls, to leave school. This new policy would be able to make a tangible difference in getting more children into classrooms, near their homes, safe, and in school.