1,410 schools with single teacher may be merged

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 22

There is uncertainty over the fate of 1,410 single-teacher government schools, which are being run in violation of the provisions of the Right to Education Act.

Though the issue of merger of these schools with only one teacher or very less enrolment remains a politically contentious issue, the process of identifying such schools which could be merged is underway. The Education Department has identified 1,410 such schools being run by a single teacher.

“The task before us is to identify the schools which do not conform to the provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act,” said Arun Sharma, Secretary, Education. The decision to merge these schools with nearby schools will be taken by the Cabinet once the department submits its final report.

Sources in the department have revealed that there are instances where a school has 30 students and eight teachers, while in a school in Baddi, where children of industrial workers study, the strength is 354 but only one teacher has been posted. Officials admit that there are several instances where science and mathematics teachers, who are in shortage, are posted in the Education Directorate or in the Secretariat here. The enrolment drive in over 15,000 schools, including 10,754 primary schools all over the state, got over on April 19. The enrolment in these schools stands at 8.29 lakh while the number of students in 2,767 private schools is 2.67 lakh.

The lure of sending one’s child to a private school is worrisome. Despite no proper infrastructure like play fields, laboratories and libraries, parents are keen to enroll their children in private schools. Moreover, the staff in government schools is far qualified than private teachers.