Govt may merge primary schools with low enrolment

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rewari, November 11

The government may merge primary schools having low enrolments with adjoining schools across the state before the next academic session in order to improve educational standards.

The Department of Elementary Education has recently sought details from all District Elementary Education Officers (DEEOs) about such schools in their respective district.

Sources say the details are being collected in view of a missive shot off by the State Project Director, Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (HSSPP), to the Director, Elementary Education, over the issue as discussed by higher officers of the HSSPP during a review meeting organised by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) in Srinagar on October 3.

“It was observed that there are a large number of institutions having low enrolment and such institutions can be merged with adjoining institutions which are either easily accessible or within walkable distance for better management and to improve educational standards,” said the State Project Director in the missive.

The letter also reads: “You (the Education Department) have already taken initiative to such mergers and some headway has already been made. It has been decided that all pending processes in this regard should be completed before the end of the current academic session and all such institutions should be merged within the prescribed time limit.”

Khushi Ram, Block Education Officer (BEO), Khol, here, said details about the schools having low student strength were being collected following the directives of the state authorities.

Some primary schools having low enrolments were also merged with other schools located in the same village in the district several years ago, said the BEO.