Arunachal orders closure of 386 govt schools for zero enrolment
The decision is aimed at rationalising educational infrastructure and making better use of teaching staff and facilities.
The order, issued by the state's Education department on Monday, follows a detailed analysis of data from the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE), which identified a significant number of schools that have remained non-functional, in some cases for several years.
Itanagar, Jun 3 (PTI) The Arunachal Pradesh government has ordered the closure of 386 government schools across the state that have recorded zero student enrolment in the current academic year.
The closure affect schools in almost every district, including remote and border regions such as Kurung Kumey, Tawang, Anjaw, Changlang, and Upper Subansiri.
The list includes primary, upper primary, middle, and secondary government schools that have had no student enrolment this year and, in some instances, for multiple academic sessions.
According to the official notification, West Kameng district reported the highest number of closures, with 73 schools shut down. Other districts with significant numbers include Papum Pare with 50 closures, West Siang with 31, Upper Subansiri and Siang with 28 each, and East Kameng with 23. Several other districts also saw closures ranging from one to 22 schools.
Education department officials explained that the closures are part of a larger rationalisation initiative that focuses on consolidating educational resources and improving learning outcomes.
By closing schools with no students, the government aims to reassign staff to institutions that are actively serving children and require support, they said.
The officials added that the move is aligned with the goals of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which advocates for the efficient management of school infrastructure and emphasises the need for quality over quantity.
The department has instructed all deputy directors of school education (DDSEs) and block education officers (BEOs) to ensure the immediate physical closure of the listed schools and begin redeployment of teaching and non-teaching staff wherever necessary.
The officials also confirmed that in cases where students may have recently migrated to the now-closed institutions, arrangements will be made to shift them to nearby functioning schools to prevent any disruption to their education.
This is the second major round of closures in the state.
Last year, the state government had also closed 600 schools, which were either non-functional or had zero enrolment.
Nearly 600 such schools have already been shut down or merged with other schools; state Education minister Pasang Dorjee Sona had informed the assembly last year.
The northeastern state has over 2,800 government-run lower primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary schools, with more than 7,600 regular teachers. PTI UPL UPL RG
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
'It could have gone nuclear': Trump again claims he 'stopped India-Pakistan war'; doubles down on trade angle
US President Donald Trump (PTI photo) US President Donald Trump on Friday once again claimed that he played a key role in stopping a possible war between India and Pakistan - a conflict he said might have gone nuclear if not for his intervention. Speaking to reports on Air Force One, Trump said he used trade as a tool to get both sides to halt hostilities immediately. "You know, I did something that people don't talk about, and I don't talk about very much, but we solved a big problem, a nuclear problem potentially with India and with Pakistan. I spoke to Pakistan, I spoke to India, they have really great leaders, but they were going at it, and they could have gone at it nuclear," US President said. He explained that both countries stopped their attacks after he warned them the US would suspend trade if the fighting continued. "Both nuclear countries, strong nuclear countries, and I talked about trade and said, 'We're not doing trade if you guys are going to be throwing bombs at each other.' They both stopped, and I stopped that war immediately. It was going much further, and hopefully, it would not go to nuclear, but it might have gone to nuclear. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Secure Your Child's Future with Strong English Fluency Planet Spark Learn More Undo In fact, it might have gone to nuclear in the next round, but we stopped it, and I'd like to commend the leaders of both countries, Pakistan and India. " Trump's version of events got a rare endorsement from Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin 's aide Yury Ushakov backed Trump's claim, saying his direct involvement helped end the conflict - something that even came up in a phone call between Trump and Putin. "The Middle East was discussed, as well as the armed conflict between India and Pakistan, which has been halted with the personal involvement of President Trump," Ushakov said. The US president's comments, however, stirred diplomatic pushback. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor , who is leading an all-party delegation to the US, said they addressed Trump's mediation claims directly with US Vice President JD Vance. "The meeting with Vice President Vance was outstanding, very good, very clear. I think we made our position amply clear on this question of mediation, and Vice President Vance fully understood our points," Tharoor said. Trump has made similar claims in the past, especially after India carried out Operation Sindoor -- precision strike on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) on May 7, in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack. India later responded to Pakistani military aggression with airbase strikes. Eventually, tensions eased after Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) contacted his Indian counterpart and agreed to stop further action.
News18
an hour ago
- News18
Class 10 Topper In Himachal's Mandi Becomes Deputy Commissioner For A Day
Last Updated: Anvi Singh, a Class 10 student from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, served as Deputy Commissioner for a day, overseeing an earthquake drill and public grievance sessions. It was a proud and unforgettable day in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, as Anvi Singh, a bright Class 10 student, took charge as the Deputy Commissioner for a day — a part of a unique initiative launched by the district administration to encourage and inspire young achievers. Anvi, a student of Alok Bharti School in Kotli and a resident of Doon village in Sarkaghat, secured the fourth position in the Class 10 Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBOSE) exams and emerged as the district topper. Recognising her academic excellence, she was selected to serve as the Deputy Commissioner under the newly introduced 'DC for a Day' campaign. शिक्षा क्षेत्र में युवाओं को उत्कृष्ट प्रदर्शन के लिए प्रेरित करने व मेधावी छात्रों को प्रोत्साहन के दृष्टिगत जिला प्रशासन ने 'DC for a day' अभियान की पहल की है। इस अभिनव प्रयास के तहत HPBoSE की 10वीं कक्षा की जिला में टॉपर रही सरकाघाट क्षेत्र की अन्वी सिंह एक दिन के लिए DC बनी। — DC Mandi (@dcmandi) June 6, 2025 On Friday morning, Anvi was warmly received at the DC office by Deputy Commissioner Apoorva Devgan and the staff, as reported by PTI. She was given a tour of various administrative sections and briefed on the responsibilities involved in district-level governance. Her father, Vikram Singh Thakur, and grandfather accompanied her during this special experience. Her day as the DC began with overseeing an earthquake mock drill. She interacted with officials, assessed the drill, and reviewed the district's disaster preparedness. She later visited multiple departments within the DC office to understand their functions and participated in a public grievance redressal session, where she heard complaints and issued directions for resolution. Describing the experience as the most unforgettable day of her life, Anvi thanked the district administration for the opportunity. 'Today I got to know closely the work of a Deputy Commissioner, his responsibilities and the administrative process," she told PTI, reflecting on her hands-on exposure to governance and leadership. Deputy Commissioner Apoorva Devgan shared that the 'DC for a Day' initiative aims to foster leadership qualities, confidence, and a sense of social responsibility among students. The campaign builds on past efforts like 'Apna Vidyalaya' and 'Apna Pustakalaya' to support student development and community engagement.
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
‘Defence may be the wrong word': Shashi Tharoor points at ‘China factor' in Pakistan conflict
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Thursday that 81 percent of Pakistan's defence equipment comes from China, making the country an 'impossible factor' to ignore in the conflict with Islamabad. Tharoor, who is leading a parliamentary delegation to the US to expose Islamabad's nexus with terror after India's Operation Sindoor, said that New Delhi-Beijing relations were making good progress till last month's conflict with Pakistan. 'I'm not going to mince my words, but we are aware that China has immense stakes in Pakistan," PTI quoted Tharoor as telling the representatives of think tanks at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC. Tharoor pointed out that the largest single project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and that 81 percent of Pakistani defence equipment is from China. 'Defence may be the wrong word here. Offence in many ways……China is an absolutely impossible factor to ignore in what has been our confrontation with Pakistan,' Tharoor said. Shashi Tharoor told the gathering that India had seen good progress in its relationship with China after tensions since the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes. The Thiruvananthapuram MP added that during Operation Sindoor and the conflict with Pakistan, New Delhi saw a very different China in terms of its support for Islamabad, even on the UN Security Council. 'We have no illusions about what the challenges are in our neighbourhood, but I want to remind you all that India has consistently chosen a path of keeping open channels of communication, even with our adversaries. We have tried as much as possible to focus on development, on growth, on trade. Our trade with China is still at record levels. It's not that we are adopting a posture of hostility, but we would be naive not to be aware of these other currents around,' he said. The UN Security Council, on April 25, issued a press statement on the 'terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir' after the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The statement had condemned the attack in "the strongest terms' but did not mention The Resistance Front as Pakistan, which is a non-permanent member of the council, got it removed with China's help. 'The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice,' the press statement had said. Shashi Tharoor was asked about the Chinese military equipment that Pakistan used in the conflict during an earlier interaction at the Council on Foreign Relations. The delegation head said that when India saw what the Pakistanis were attempting to do using Chinese technology, for instance, the 'kill chain' that the Chinese specialise in, where the radar, GPS, planes and missiles are all linked together and they react instantly, 'we simply did things in a different way. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to hit' 11 Pakistani airfields, and "we wouldn't have been able to breach the Chinese-supplied air defences. 'So it's clear that assessments were taking place while the fighting was happening, and we were recalibrating our strategies in order to end as effectively as we were able to end,' Tharoor said.
