Merging schools will harm crores of poor, marginalised students: Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Wednesday said the Uttar Pradesh government's move to merge or consolidate primary schools under the Basic Education Council will disproportionately harm the poor and marginalised children. In a post on X, Mayawati termed the decision ''unjust, unnecessary, and clearly anti-poor at first glance,'' adding that the move will deprive crores of children from economically weaker backgrounds of accessible and affordable education near their homes.

She wrote, ''The decision taken by the Basic Shiksha Parishad, Uttar Pradesh, under the guise of school merging/consolidation, to shut down a large number of primary schools is not in the interest of poor children'' and demanded immediate withdrawal of the decision. If not, Mayawati said, her party will revoke it, whenever it comes to power next. The former UP chief minister expressed hope that the government would ''sympathetically reconsider'' the move, keeping in mind the larger interests of public education and social equity. According to sources, the Yogi-Adityanath-led government has decided to merge schools to rationalise educational resources and address issues such as low enrolment, teacher shortage, and duplication of infrastructure.

The move, officials claim, aims to consolidate small and under-enrolled schools and merge them with nearby institutions. There are about 1.40 lakh government primary and upper primary schools in the state, out of which 29,000 have 50 or fewer students, an official said, adding that around 89,000 teachers are posted in these schools.

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