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The Education Minister of Arunachal Pradesh has revealed in the assembly that the state government has shut or merged around 600 schools that are either non-functional or had zero enrollment, and more are likely to join the list. The move is not surprising, as it’s been more than six years since the state cabinet announced its decision to close down all schools running without students. What was surprising is the number of non-functional schools in the state, which has more than 2,800 government schools and over 7,600 regular teachers. Well, Arunachal Pradesh is not alone in this. Northeastern states, including Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur, have gained notoriety for low enrolment in government-run schools and poor performance in board examinations. The government of Nagaland closed down four schools earlier this year, citing zero student enrollment. Meghalaya government, too, has announced its decision to take a similar action. While such measures may be necessary to reduce wastage of public funds and resources, the state governments should own responsibility for the mess they have created and their utter failure to run schools that were established with the sole purpose of providing quality education to all, especially the poor. Or had the state governments mindlessly set up schools just to meet employment demands with political motives?
People in power seem to have failed to accept the fact that low student enrollment is a result of poor administration, a shortage of teachers, and several other reasons. Many government schools, especially in rural areas, lack even basic infrastructure, including classrooms. So, by deciding to shut down schools, the government is trying to treat the symptom instead of the cause. It, in a way, indicates that children, at least in areas where school closure has been announced, have been deprived of quality education for years, forcing the people to send their children to private schools. Considering the possible ramifications its move can have on the have-nots, state governments should take extreme step like closure of schools as a last resort, certainly not before addressing the root causes of low enrolment like proxy teaching, poor infrastructure, lack of subject teachers, etc. Any action that will affect the people and undermine India’s commitment towards providing free education to all children should be scrutinised. Children from unprivileged sections of society and underserved areas should not be denied access to quality education. For this, governments should ensure that public-owned schools have all the infrastructure and learning resources. It’s unfair to close down schools instead of cracking the whip on errant teachers and officials.