MP closed 6,972 government schools between 2019-20 and 2023-24: Govt

Madhya Pradesh closed the maximum number of government schools, 6,972, between a period of five years from 2019-2020 and 2023-2024, according to the data given in Jayant Chaudhary’s written reply to Lok Sabha. The state is followed by Odisha with 4,589 school closures and Jammu and Kashmir with 4,380.

Responding to the question regarding reasons for closure of schools including lack of enrollment, infrastructure or administrative issues, the Minister of State (MoS) for education said that education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and the opening, closing or merger of schools are within the purview of respective state government and UT administration.

He also informed that since 2018-19, the school education department is running a centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha - which subsumes the three erstwhile schemes – Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE). Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided to the states and UTs for opening or strengthening of new schools up to senior secondary level, construction of school buildings, and additional classrooms.

About the impact of school closures on access to education, he informed about the strategies adopted by states to build schools. “To ensure universal access to elementary schools, Section 6 of the RTE Act mandates the establishment of schools by the appropriate government within defined area or neighborhood limits. Therefore, to achieve better learning outcomes and appropriate Pupil-Teacher Ratios (PTR) across upper primary and secondary levels, some states have adopted appropriate strategies to establish the larger schools as per aspirations of the public,” he said in his reply.

Samagra Shiksha scheme

For the rural, tribal, and backward areas, where opening of a school is not feasible, the government provides a transport facility up to an average cost at Rs 6,000 per child per annum up to Class 10.

Moreover, financial assistance is provided to the states and UTs for opening and running of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Awasiya Vidyalayas in remote, sparsely populated and difficult to reach areas, hilly terrains, areas affected by LWE, large uninhabited areas with natural barriers. Financial assistance is also provided under PM-JANMAN component of Samagra Shiksha for the unserved identified particularly vulnerable tribal groups and under Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) component of Samagra Shiksha, for the unserved ST population.

School closures in states, UTs

The state-wise number of government schools in a period of five years, as per UDISE Plus data is given below.