Agartala, Tripura government has started an exercise to identify schools with student strength of less than 50 and may merge them with nearby educational institutes, which have better enrolment, an official said on Sunday.
The exercise, which was launched following the Centre's directive last month, is expected to conclude by the end of June, he said.
"As part of a plan to boost the learning system, district education officials were asked to identify government schools with student strength below 50 to merge them with institutes that had reasonably better enrolment," said Officer of Special Service (OSD) of the Department of Education. said Kaliprasad Chakma.
The move is aimed at improving the student-teacher ratio, he said.
"Once the exercise is over, the government will consider all aspects and may merge these schools with others preferably situated within a radius of 1 km or 1.5 km," he said.
According to Chakma, preliminary reports indicate that the state has 800 primary and higher basic schools with an enrollment of less than 50 students.
In total, there are around 2,500 basic primary and secondary schools in the state.
After completion of the current financial year, the department will seek the opinion of school management committees (SMCs) and local bodies and then submit a report to the government to take necessary decision for the merger, he said.
"The objective of the measure is to reorganize the student-teacher ratio in primary level public schools. It has been discovered that there are three teachers assigned to a primary basic school that has only 13 students, while many schools face shortage of teaching staff "The problem of this distribution of teachers can be solved through exercise," he said.
Responding to the move, state Congress youth leader Md. Shajahan Islam alleged that the BJP-led twin-engine government has been "forcing poor students to take admission in private schools".
"The BJP government has failed to improve the education system in its six-year rule. We learn that the education department has initiated a process to close 160 schools in West Tripura district alone, citing lower enrolment. Where Will the poor be there? Are the students going? The Youth Congress strongly protests the measure," he said.
CPI(M)-backed Tribal Students Union general secretary Sujit Tripura alleged that the government has been trying to close many schools in rural and tribal areas to deprive tribal students of education.
The exercise, which was launched following the Centre's directive last month, is expected to conclude by the end of June, he said.
"As part of a plan to boost the learning system, district education officials were asked to identify government schools with student strength below 50 to merge them with institutes that had reasonably better enrolment," said Officer of Special Service (OSD) of the Department of Education. said Kaliprasad Chakma.
The move is aimed at improving the student-teacher ratio, he said.
"Once the exercise is over, the government will consider all aspects and may merge these schools with others preferably situated within a radius of 1 km or 1.5 km," he said.
According to Chakma, preliminary reports indicate that the state has 800 primary and higher basic schools with an enrollment of less than 50 students.
In total, there are around 2,500 basic primary and secondary schools in the state.
After completion of the current financial year, the department will seek the opinion of school management committees (SMCs) and local bodies and then submit a report to the government to take necessary decision for the merger, he said.
"The objective of the measure is to reorganize the student-teacher ratio in primary level public schools. It has been discovered that there are three teachers assigned to a primary basic school that has only 13 students, while many schools face shortage of teaching staff "The problem of this distribution of teachers can be solved through exercise," he said.
Responding to the move, state Congress youth leader Md. Shajahan Islam alleged that the BJP-led twin-engine government has been "forcing poor students to take admission in private schools".
"The BJP government has failed to improve the education system in its six-year rule. We learn that the education department has initiated a process to close 160 schools in West Tripura district alone, citing lower enrolment. Where Will the poor be there? Are the students going? The Youth Congress strongly protests the measure," he said.
CPI(M)-backed Tribal Students Union general secretary Sujit Tripura alleged that the government has been trying to close many schools in rural and tribal areas to deprive tribal students of education.
