Controversy over the policy to pair schools in the state

Hindustan Times

6 days ago

The year was 2001-02 and a video on then Prime Minister Atal Bihari's Vajpayee flagship national scheme 'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan' was shot in scenic locations showing happy students going to school through different terrain, some even taking a ride on bullock cart or camel. It was aired on Doordarshan. The National Education Policy (NEP) was launched in 2020 aiming to achieve 100 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio in school education by 2030 (Representational image)
The video opened with Vajpayee holding the hands of two students in uniform and couple of meaningful lines, which essentially urged children to go to school, ' aao school chale hum.'
The video ended with the late President Abdul Kalam asking children to repeat after him the following words, 'I go to school to learn, Learning gives creativity, Creativity teaches to think, thinking provides knowledge, Knowledge makes me great.'
The appearance of both the Prime Minister and the President had given a fillip to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, as state governments and schools joined hands to make the dream project successful.
The ambitious scheme offered free education to children in the age group of 6-14 years. A constitutional amendment was also made in 2002 to provide free and compulsory education to all children in the age group of 6-14 years as a fundamental right. The states had to play an active role.
In 2009, the focus continued on education as the Congress government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh introduced the 'Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) law envisaging that every child had a right to full- time elementary education of 'satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal school, conforming to certain norms and standards. It provided for accessibility of schools as well as for rational deployment of teachers by ensuring specified pupil ratio is maintained for each school, rather than just as an average for the state or district or block, thus ensuring that there is no urban-rural imbalance in teacher postings.'
Two years later, the Uttar Pradesh government decided to open primary and upper primary schools in areas where no school existed within a 1 km radius and a minimum population of 300 and within a 3 km radius with a minimum population of 800 respectively.
Thereafter, the National Education Policy (NEP) was launched in 2020 aiming to achieve 100 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio in school education by 2030. Successive government's top agenda was Education for All.
The policy noted, 'Various governmental, as well as non-governmental surveys, indicate that we are currently in a learning crisis: a large proportion of students currently in elementary school - estimated to be over 5 crore in number- have not attained foundational literacy and numeracy, i.e., the ability to read and comprehend basic text and the ability to carry out basic addition and subtraction with Indian numerals.'
Several steps were announced to improve accessibility of schools for basic education, containing drop-out rate besides schemes like mid-day meals and provisions of free school bags, uniform and shoes to attract the students.
As per the government document, not much was achieved despite initiatives taken by successive governments and thus an accelerated thrust was needed to achieve the target.
In this background, the UP government's decision to pair primary schools with less than 50 students is being criticised by many academicians, parents and teachers. The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has upheld the decision, which has been challenged in the Supreme Court.
Many educationists say that the government took the decision in a haste without following due process and is thus facing opposition. The argument is that the state's population has increased manifold since the primary schools were set up within a radius of one kilometre. Second, it could be the department, as well as the teacher's failure, in not getting enough students in schools.
Then, there are other issues like the demand for the English language or the lack of facilities to teach English in upper primary schools. Experts feel the government should engage with all the stakeholders. Notices should have been issued to school teachers to enroll students or face closure, instead of taking a random decision.
The teachers' leaders quote several bottlenecks like mandatory Aadhaar card for admission in government schools. It was in June 2022 when the UP government had made Aadhaar card mandatory for students seeking admission in primary and upper primary schools. Though the Centre had clarified in September 2023 that no child would be denied admission for want of an Aadhaar card, confusion persists. President of Teachers Association Dinesh Chandra Sharma tweeted , ' Students are not going to schools leading to a drop out, teachers are being pressurrised to bring them to school, they have been appointed to teach and not go door to door to get students and do multiple duties other than teaching. Letters are being issued to withhold salaries if attendance less than 75 percent.'
They also feel the decision would negatively impact the primary education system creating logistical challenges. One of the leaders said the real impact would be known in six months to one year's time as generally information travels late to remote villages. They also feel the other reason could be financial constraints of the state government whose priorities are different.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has tried to pacify the protestors announcing the plan to shift anganwadis in the schools that were paired with another primary or upper primary school. A government order has been issued for the same. About 10,827 schools have been merged so far.
The pairing of schools is a hot topic in UP political circles. It is an issue served on the platter to the opposition. The BJP would want to settle the issue with least political damage.