UP govt hasnt decided to shut any school: Minister clarifies in House
The minister was responding to queries by Samajwadi Party legislators Pankaj Patel, Anil Pradhan and Prabhu Narayan Singh Yadav during Question Hour on the second day of the Monsoon Session.
Patel claimed that 88 lakh children had dropped out of school due to poor educational standards, and raised concern over the recent merger of some schools.
In his reply, Singh clarified that no schools were being shut.
However, institutions with fewer than 50 students were being merged with other schools located within a 1 km radius to ensure smooth teaching operations, he said.
The minister added that children are enrolled in schools at the age of six, with those aged three to six encouraged to attend Anganwadi centres for early learning.
According to Singh, primary schools in the state have 10,493,389 enrolled students, with 417,886 approved teaching positions, of which 338,590 are currently filled.
Upper primary schools have 4,314,803 students, with 162,198 sanctioned teaching posts, and 120,860 teachers in service, the minister said. PTI AR KIS ARI
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments
First Published:
August 12, 2025, 18:15 IST
Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
7 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Jharkhand education minister Ramdas Soren, who was hospitalised after slipping and falling, dies at 62
Jharkhand's Minister for School Education, Literacy, and Registration Ramdas Soren died on Friday while undergoing treatment at a hospital in New Delhi Friday. He was 62. On Soren's X handle, his son posted, 'With great sorrow I am informing you all that my father is no longer among us.' Soren had suffered a serious brain injury and blood clot after slipping and falling in the bathroom and was airlifted to Delhi's Apollo Hospital for emergency treatment on August 2. Since then he was on life support. A multidisciplinary team of senior specialists was closely monitoring his condition and providing intensive medical care. Education and Literacy Department responsibilities were reassigned to Sudivya Kumar Sonu during the Monsoon Session following Soren's illness. A grassroots leader and a senior face of the JMM, Soren was extremely popular among the tribal community and party workers. He will be remembered for his unwavering dedication to public service. Soren, who was born in East Singhbhum district's Ghorabanda village on January 1, 1963, hailed from a middle-class farmers' family. He began his political journey as the gram pradhan of the Ghorabanda panchayat, eventually rising to become one of the most influential ministers in the Hemant Soren-led cabinet. He became Jamshedpur East president of JMM in 1990. He then moved to Ghatshila and started preparing to contest from there in the 2005 Assembly polls. But the seat went to the Congress, which was an alliance partner of the JMM. Then, he contested the polls as an independent candidate but lost. Father of three sons and a daughter, Soren contested the 2009 Assembly polls from Ghatshila and became a member of the Jharkhand Assembly for the first time. Though he lost the seat in 2014 to BJP's Lakshman Tudu, he made a strong comeback in 2019, reclaiming the seat. Soren won the seat for the third time in 2024 by defeating BJP's Babulal Soren, son of former CM Champai Soren. He was inducted into the state Cabinet on August 30, after Champai Soren resigned as minister and MLA. — With PTI
News18
10 minutes ago
- News18
Tariffing India won't stop Putin: House Foreign Affairs Committee
New York/Washington, Aug 15 (PTI) Imposing tariffs on India will not stop Russian President Vladimir Putin or address Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats said on Friday. The committee's post on X came in response to a statement by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that if 'things don't go well" between US President Donald Trump and Putin at their Alaska summit meeting, then secondary sanctions on India for purchasing Russian oil could go up. 'Tariffing India won't stop Putin. If Trump really wanted to address Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, maybe punish Putin and give Ukraine the military aid it needs. Everything else is smoke and mirrors," the House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats said. Bessent, in an interview to Bloomberg on Wednesday, said, 'I think everyone has been frustrated with President Putin. We expected that he would come to the table in a more fulsome way. It looks like he may be ready to negotiate." 'And we put secondary tariffs on the Indians for buying Russian oil. And I could see, if things don't go well, then sanctions or secondary tariffs could go up," he added. When asked about China, the main purchaser of Russian crude, Bessent had said he is 'not going to get ahead of the president, but the president is the best at creating leverage for himself and he will make it clear to President Putin that all options are on the table". On whether sanctions can go up or loosened, Bessent had said, 'Sanctions can go up, they can be loosened. They can have a definitive life. They can go on indefinitely." He had added that even as Trump is meeting with Putin, the Europeans 'need to join us" and need to be willing to 'put on these secondary sanctions". Bessent recalled that at the G7 meeting in Canada this year, he asked the leaders at the table whether they are willing to put a 200 per cent secondary tariff on China. 'And you know what, everybody wanted to see what kind of shoes they were wearing," he said. Trump imposed tariffs totalling 50 per cent on India, including 25 per cent for Delhi's purchases of Russian oil that will come into effect from August 27. Responding to the tariffs, the Ministry of External Affairs has said that the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable. 'Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security," it said. PTI YAS GSP GSP view comments First Published: August 16, 2025, 00:00 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
The Print
37 minutes ago
- The Print
Talks for treaty on plastic pollution end without agreement
Delegates from around 185 countries worked through the night at the UN's Palais des Nations, trying to bridge differences between a high-ambition group seeking global caps on virgin plastic and controls on hazardous chemicals, and a bloc of oil- and petrochemical-producing states that argued the treaty should focus on recycling, waste management and voluntary commitments. Governments negotiating the treaty were presented on Thursday with a new chair's draft that omitted binding limits on plastic production and did not include a dedicated section on chemicals of concern. The text drew sharp criticism from many nations and civil society groups for relying on voluntary, nationally determined actions. New Delhi, Aug 15 (PTI) Countries on Friday failed to reach an agreement during the resumed fifth round of international talks in Geneva that could have led to the first-ever global treaty to curb plastic pollution, with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) saying negotiators will reconvene at a later date to be announced. Despite overtime talks, the meeting ended without a deal. The UNEP said the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2), which ran from August 5 to 15, adjourned with no agreement and would reconvene at a later date to be announced. Earlier, the UNEP had billed this session as an opportunity to 'finalise and approve' text for forwarding to a diplomatic conference, but that prospect has been pushed back. In the resumed talks, the European Union, many African and Pacific states and Latin American countries pressed for binding global measures, including production limits and phase-outs of the most harmful polymers and products. On the other side, major producers, including the United States and several Gulf states, resisted any cap on primary plastic production and opposed strong chemical controls, according to negotiators and observers. Several ministers accused a small group of countries of blocking progress. India reiterated its 'no product phase-out' stance in the treaty, aligning with countries favouring nationally determined approaches focused on waste management, design improvements and extended producer responsibility rather than global bans. Civil society organisations called the collapse 'a wake-up call', arguing that a handful of countries used procedures to drag down ambition. WWF said the chair's draft was 'not a treaty' without global phase-outs, product design rules, a robust finance mechanism and majority voting to strengthen obligations over time. Environmental groups nonetheless welcomed that a weak deal was not rushed through. The resumed fifth round of negotiations on the plastics treaty (INC-5.2) in Geneva was part of a process launched in 2022 to tackle what the UN describes as a 'plastic pollution crisis' threatening oceans, wildlife, human health and the climate. The talks were initially expected to conclude in Busan, South Korea, last December but negotiations there too ended without agreement. The UNEP estimates humanity produces more than 430 million tonnes of plastic a year, much of it is short-lived. Without stronger policies, OECD projects that plastics production and use could rise by about 70 per cent by 2040. Between 19 and 23 million tonnes of plastic waste leak into aquatic ecosystems annually, with around 11 million tonnes entering the oceans each year, according to UN-linked assessments. Business coalitions that back a strong treaty said globally harmonised obligations, such as criteria to phase out problematic products, would cut far more pollution than a patchwork of voluntary national measures. But industry groups tied to the plastics value chain continued to emphasise recycling and waste-management improvements. PTI GVS GVS MNK MNK This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
