62 schools have less than 15 students; may face closure

In yet another assertion of the poor state of education in Punjab,it has come to light that 62 government primary schools in the state do not even have 15 students each.

Information procured from the office of DPI (Primary) revealed that Moga district tops the list with 17 primary schools with less than 15 students,followed by Gurdaspur (12) and Hoshiarpur (10).

In some schools,we have three students in all for the five primary classes we run. There is no logic in running these schools. The students should be shifted to other schools, says a senior official in the DPI office

The rationalisation policy of government schools,too,says that if a primary school has less than 16 students,it should be closed down and the students be shifted to the nearest government elementary school.

Some districts have,however,complied with the policy.

Records show that in Jalandhar,many such schools were closed down due the lack of attendance. District Education Officer (Secondary) Joginder Das says they followed the rationalisation policy and shifted the students to nearby primary schools.

Notably,the Punjab government has received grants worth Rs 2,500 crore from the Centre for setting up the Elementary Directorate (ED) system,as per which elementary schools with class I to VIII have to be set up,instead of having the two-tier system of separate primary and middle schools,under the National Education Policy.

But even after getting such astronomical grants in five years,from 2000 to 2005,the state of primary education remains dismal.

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