Punjab government orders to merge 800 primary schools with fewer students

NewsBharati    23-Oct-2017
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Chandigarh, October 23: With an aim to empower education system in the state, the Punjab government has decided to merge 800 government primary schools having less than 20 students with nearby schools located within a radius of 1 km.

 

Notably, the state government will close at least 800 government primary schools which have less than 20 students and these schools will be merged with nearby schools located within a radius of 1 km which will come into effect immediately.

Among the 800 schools, the maximum is located in Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur. While Muktsar, Mansa, Bathinda, Barnala and Faridkot will be least affected as less than five schools each will be closed down in these districts. However, this move will also affect 1,168 teachers in 22 districts of the state.

The state government spokesperson said the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education was being fully adhered to and no student would traverse a distance of more than 1 km from his or her residence to go to school.

The spokesperson further noted that many schools being merged were situated right next to the other schools and at many places both schools share a wall. The exercise will be completed by November 30. The spokesperson further said that these teachers would be deployed at the places where their services were needed the most.

“The Right to Free and Compulsory Education of the children is being fully adhered to and no student would be traversing the distance of more than 1 KM from his/her residence to go to school,” the spokesperson said, adding that many schools being merged are situated right next to the other schools and in many places, both the schools share a common wall. Interestingly, as of now 47 of the schools facing merger have the student strength of less than 5 and out of these, 15 schools have even less than 3 students.