As many as 419 government schools in Himachal Pradesh with five or less students have been merged with nearby schools, Education Minister Rohit Thakur informed the Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday.
The move was taken to rationalise the deployment of teachers, Thakur said while responding to a question of BJP member Vipin Parmar, which was asked by his party colleague Rakesh Jamwal in his absence during the ’Question Hour’.
A total of 361 primary schools with less than five students have been merged with other schools within a 2-km radius, while 58 middle section schools have been merged with schools within a 3-km distance, the minister said.
The enrolment of students in government schools dropped in the last two decades, Thakur said, citing parents’ inclination towards private schools and opening of private schools in the vicinity of existing government schools.
Further, the rising migration of people from rural to urban areas is also a factor for low enrolment in government schools located in rural areas, he added.
Sharing figures on the declining trend, the education minister said the number of students in primary schools (up to Class 5) was 90 lakh in 2003, but it dropped to 2.99 lakh in 2023, while the strength in middle schools (Classes 6 to 8) reduced from 3.81 lakh to 2.50 lakh in the same period.
In government senior secondary schools, the number of students dipped from 1.84 lakh to 1.34 lakh from 2003 to 2023, Thakur saiad, adding that the situation could turn worse in the next ten years.
He said that as per the latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), Himachal Pradesh has slipped to 21st position and students of Class 8 are now unable to read the books of Class 2.
In a cabinet meeting on July 25, the state cabinet had decided to close 89 government primary schools (GPS) and 10 government middle schools (GMS) with zero enrolments and approved the merger of GPS and GMS with five or less students within two and 3 kilometre radius.
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