Why Merging Government Primary Schools Is a Threat to Children's Education

 

The Basic Education Department has started merging government primary schools where there are fewer students. A new rule says that if a school has fewer than 25 children, it should be closed and those students should be sent to a nearby school. This work has been given to all the District Basic Education Officers in the state. The reason behind this step is to reduce the number of schools and manage them better. But this step is creating many serious problems, especially for small children, poor families, and villages.

The biggest issue in this plan is that it goes against the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The RTE Act was passed in 2009. It says that education is a basic right of every child between 6 to 14 years of age. It also says that there should be a school in every village, and no child should have to travel too far to go to school. This Act was not just about making numbers look good. It was a promise made by the government to give every child an equal chance to study and grow.

Instead of fulfilling this promise, the government is now saying that there are too many schools and not enough teachers. So, they want to merge schools to use teachers better. But this is not the real problem. The real problem is that the government has not appointed enough teachers. Many schools have only one or two teachers who are forced to handle all the classes. On top of that, teachers are regularly called for other government work like election duty, making ration cards, doing health surveys, vaccination work, and so on. These jobs take them away from teaching. If the teachers are always busy with other duties, how can they focus on children?

Now, instead of solving this issue, the government is choosing the easy way—by closing the schools. But this is not a solution. This is hiding the problem. Closing schools or merging them will directly hurt children. Right now, many children can reach their village school in just 500 meters or 1 kilometer. But after the merger, they may have to walk 3 to 4 kilometers. The roads are not always safe. There may be forests, rivers, highways, or even wild animals in some areas. This will make it very hard for small children to go to school, especially for girls. Their parents may stop sending them because of safety and distance.

We should remember that a school is not just a place to study. It is a place where children learn about their language, culture, society, and values. A village school is close to the people. Teachers know the families, and there is a strong bond between school and society. When a child learns in their village, in their language, with known people, they feel safe and confident. But when schools are closed or merged, this connection breaks. Education becomes distant and difficult. Children feel lost in a new place.

This policy will hit poor children the most. Rich families can send their children to private schools with transport facilities. But poor families depend on government schools. If the school moves far away, they have no option. Many children may drop out. Girls may be kept at home. Child labor may increase. This will push poor children further back and increase inequality.

Instead of closing schools, the government should focus on improving them. There should be one teacher for each class. There should be enough rooms, toilets, drinking water, playgrounds, and teaching material. Teachers should be trained properly and given permanent jobs. Most importantly, they should be freed from non-teaching work. Only then can they focus fully on their real job—teaching.

We must ask: if there are not enough teachers, why is the government not hiring more? Why are trained and eligible youth not being given jobs as teachers? Why are existing teachers being burdened with non-educational work? Why is the solution always to reduce schools, not to improve them?

The truth is that this decision to merge schools shows that the government has failed to provide proper teachers and facilities in the last 15 years. Now, instead of accepting its failure and correcting it, the government is trying to shift the blame. It wants to cover up its mistakes by reducing the number of schools.

But this is not just a policy issue. It is about the future of lakhs of children. Education is not a favor—it is a right. And the first step of that right is to have a school in the village. If we remove that school, we remove the child’s first step towards learning, confidence, and citizenship.

Merging schools may save some money. It may look good on paper. But it will damage the roots of our education system. It will separate children from their village, their culture, and their identity. It will make education harder to access. It will increase dropouts and reduce learning. It will harm our democracy, because a child who does not get an education today cannot become a responsible citizen tomorrow.

This is not progress. This is a step backward. And we cannot let this happen. We must all stand up—teachers, parents, students, and every citizen who cares about children. We must say clearly and loudly: if you cannot improve education, do not destroy what we already have. Do not take away the schools that are lifelines of our villages. Do not punish children for the failure of the system.

If there are not enough teachers, appoint more. If teachers are overworked, reduce their non-teaching duties. If schools are weak, strengthen them. But do not shut them down. That is not a solution. That is giving up on our children.

Let us remind ourselves that every child has a dream. That dream begins in a small village school. Let us protect those dreams. Let us protect our schools. Because when we protect schools, we protect the future of our country.

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