GS-II: Governance | Education | Right to Education (RTE) | Social Justice
Context
- NITI Aayog report: Around 94,000 government schools have been closed over the past decade—an average of 25 schools per day—resulting in a 2.26 crore decline in government school enrolment.
- Editorial’s argument: While school rationalisation may improve administrative efficiency, indiscriminate closure of government schools undermines the Right to Education (RTE), disproportionately affecting poor, rural and marginalised children.
Reasons Behind Government School Closures
- School rationalisation: States have closed or merged schools under rationalisation policies aimed at improving resource utilisation. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 supports rationalisation but emphasises that the concept of neighbourhood schools should not be compromised.
- Administrative decision rather than demographic change: The editorial argues that closures cannot be explained merely by declining population or migration but are the result of deliberate administrative decisions, particularly affecting rural and economically weaker regions.
States Most Affected
- Madhya Pradesh: In December 2025, the State found 7.37 lakh children without school records. Across its districts:
- 3,500 government schools recorded zero admissions.
- 6,500 schools admitted fewer than 10 students.
- 11.38 lakh children were classified under the “Drop Box” category (at risk of dropping out).
- 1.23 lakh children were recorded as dropouts.
- 1.55 lakh children left school due to migration or displacement.
- Failure of outreach programmes: The State’s flagship programmes—School Chalen Hum and Home Contact Campaign—failed to reach nearly three-fourths of a million children, according to the State’s own audit.
- National trend (UDISE+ data): Government schools declined from 11.07 lakh (2014–15) to 10.17 lakh (2023–24), while private schools increased from 2.88 lakh to 3.31 lakh.
- Uttar Pradesh: Government schools declined from 1.63 lakh to 1.38 lakh within one year.
- Jammu & Kashmir: Furthermore, the government closed or merged more than 4,300 schools, compelling many children to travel 4–6 km daily despite the RTE Act’s provision for neighbourhood schools.
Impact of Government School Closures
- Affects marginalised communities the most: Government schools primarily serve children from Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and economically weaker sections.
- The 2019 National Sample Survey found that the closure of nearby government schools disproportionately reduced access to free education for Muslim, Scheduled Caste (SC), and Scheduled Tribe (ST) households.
- Higher dropout risk for girls: Girls are often the first to discontinue education when schools become geographically inaccessible.
- Decline in quality of education: School consolidation frequently results in a single teacher managing multiple classes, affecting teaching quality and violating staffing norms under the RTE Act.
Editorial’s Observations
- Shared responsibility: Although education is on the Concurrent List and States manage schools, the Right to Education Act, 2009 is a Central legislation, making the Centre equally responsible for ensuring neighbourhood schools.
- Central influence over State education: The Centre links school funding with implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and influences language policy, indicating that it has sufficient leverage to address excessive school closures.
- Weak enforcement of RTE: However, while the RTE Act guarantees free and compulsory education for children aged 6–14 years, it does not effectively ensure the quality of education or protect children’s rights after enrolment.
- Limited community participation: School Management Committees (SMCs), established under the RTE Act to promote community participation, remain largely non-functional.
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Significance of Government Schools
- Ensures educational access: Government schools provide affordable education to children from disadvantaged and rural backgrounds.
- Promotes social justice: They reduce educational inequalities by ensuring access for socially and economically marginalised communities.
- Supports constitutional goals: They facilitate the implementation of Article 21A by providing free and compulsory elementary education.
- Strengthens inclusive development: Universal access to neighbourhood schools contributes to literacy, human capital formation and social mobility.
Challenges
- Balancing rationalisation and accessibility: Improving efficiency without compromising neighbourhood schools remains difficult.
- Growing educational inequality: Closure of government schools disproportionately affects vulnerable communities.
- Weak implementation of RTE: Legal guarantees are inadequately enforced due to institutional and administrative limitations.
- Migration and displacement: Frequent migration increases the risk of children dropping out of school.
- Inactive School Management Committees: Weak community oversight reduces accountability in school functioning.
Way Forward
- Protect neighbourhood schools: Rationalisation should not compromise children’s physical access to education.
- Strengthen enrolment drives: Improve implementation of outreach programmes to identify and re-enrol out-of-school children.
- Revitalise School Management Committees: Ensure regular functioning of SMCs to improve community participation and accountability.
- Improve quality of government schools: Fill teacher vacancies and maintain staffing norms under the RTE Act.
- Strengthen Centre-State coordination: Both governments should work together to ensure that school rationalisation does not undermine the objectives of universal elementary education.
Conclusion
- Balance efficiency with equity: While rationalisation may improve administrative efficiency, it should not weaken access to education for disadvantaged children.
- Strengthen the Right to Education: Ensuring functional neighbourhood schools, effective implementation of the RTE Act and improved quality of government schools is essential for achieving equitable and inclusive education.
UPSC Mains Practice Question
Q. The large-scale closure of government schools in India raises concerns regarding equitable access to education and the effective implementation of the Right to Education Act. Discuss.
