Punjab opposition leader Khaira condemns govt decision to merge 800 primary govt schools

Khaira urged the CM to intervene immediately and direct the education minister to withdraw this notification as soon as possible

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Punjab Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira. Express photo

Punjab Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira Saturday condemned the Punjab government’s move to merge 800 elementary schools having less than 20 students, In a statement issued in Chandigarh today, the senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader termed this as an extreme retrograde step and blatant violation of the Right to Free Education (RTE) Act 2009, for underprivileged and poor children. Khaira said the Punjab government has decided to close 800 schools and merge them with nearby schools. A notification in this regard was issued by DPI (Schools) on October 18.

Targetting the Captain Amarinder Singh government, Khaira said that instead of providing quality education and increasing the number of schools in Punjab, his government has decided to close 800 schools. It is an act of discrimination against thousands of poor children. He said by doing so, the chief minister has put the future of all those students, who study in one of those 800 schools, at risk. Khaira further criticised the Punjab government saying that the children of these 800 schools will now have to walk or travel many kilometers.

“This is gross violation of the RTE Act 2009, wherein a primary school should be situated in a distance less than one kilometer. For example, small children of primary school Dere Shahpur Peera at serial no 458 of the list will now have to walk or travel five kilometers to a school in Jairampur and will have to cross the six-lane busy NH-1, besides a railway crossing,” he said.

The LoP said that the closure of schools was also a cruel joke with the electorate of Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency where 133 schools are being shut down. “It seems that monetary gains seem to have taken precedence over right to free education and the livelihood of these poor children by the Congress government. It’s like being “penny wise and pound foolish”, Khaira said.

Khaira said he will take up this matter with other AAP MLAs and launch a protest outside the premises of the said 800 primary schools. He urged the CM to intervene immediately and direct the education minister to withdraw this notification and instead motivate people in the villages to increase the number of students in their respective schools, to fully avail the central grant under Sarv Siksha Abhiyan (SSA).