No school closures in UP, says minister; Highlights over 1.48 cr students enrolled

Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Minister Sandeep Singh, on Tuesday, hit back at Opposition criticism on students’ enrolment, teacher recruitment, school mergers, and admission age reforms, accusing them of politicising the issue and misleading the public.

Citing data in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly during question hour, he said the government has taken historic steps to raise education standards.

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The Minister informed the House that at present, 1,04,93,389 children are enrolled in primary schools, taught by 3,38,590 teachers and 1,43,450 Shiksha Mitras. The prescribed student–teacher ratio is 30:1 in primary education and 35:1 in upper primary education. Upper primary schools have 43,01,483 students taught by 1,20,860 teachers and 25,223 instructors. Overall, council schools have around 1.48 crore students and over 6.28 lakh teachers, Shiksha Mitras, and instructors.

He clarified that after school pairing, institutions with up to 50 students will have two teachers and one Shiksha Mitra. The student–teacher ratio remains balanced.

Rejecting allegations of school closures, the Minister affirmed that not a single school had been shut down. All council schools continue to operate under the Basic Education Department.

On the matter of raising the admission age to four years, he stated firmly that it was not possible, as the Right to Education Act mandates a uniform system nationwide. Education and nutrition for children aged 3 to 6 are already provided through Anganwadi centres.

Explaining the merger process, Singh said only schools with fewer than 50 students within a one-kilometre radius were paired. These schools were integrated with resource-rich institutions to ensure better facilities and easier access. Vacant school premises are being used in collaboration with the ICDS department to run pre-primary, play school, and nursery classes. So far, over 3,000 schools have partnered with ICDS, with 19,484 ACCEs appointed on a contractual basis.