Guwahati, Feb 6: Data from the Ministry of Education has revealed only Meghalaya and Manipur states in the Northeast have shown an increase in the number of government schools while in the case of private schools, Assam has shown the largest growth.
Meghalaya had shown a decline in private schools. The revelation came during a question raised by Rachna Banerjee in Parliament on the closure or merger of schools in the country in the last ten years, from 2013-14 to 2023-24.
Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhury replied that education is in the Concurrent list of the Constitution and the opening, closing and rationalisation of schools are within the purview of the respective State Government and UT Administration. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 provides children’s access to elementary schools within the defined area or limits of the neighbourhood. In pursuance to Section 6 of the RTE Act, all States have notified areas or limits of their neighbourhood norms.
“Further, Section 8 of the RTE Act, 2009 also mandates that the appropriate government shall provide free and compulsory elementary education to every child and will ensure availability of neighbourhood schools” he said.
The Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education has developed the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) system to record data on indicators of school education provided by all the States and Union Territories.
From 2014-15 to 2023-24, Meghalaya retained a near-constant number of government schools, with a modest increase from 7,763 to 7,779. This stability contrasts sharply with states like Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, which saw declines of 8,900 and 561 government schools, respectively.
From 2014-15 to 2023-24, Assam witnessed a decline of nearly 8,900 government schools, dropping from 52,927 to 45,008. Arunachal Pradesh saw a similar decline, with its numbers shrinking from 3,408 to 2,847 schools.
Apart from Meghalaya which showed a modest increase in government schools, Manipur showed a slight rise from 2,372 to 2,934 schools.
Private education saw contrasting trends. Assam experienced a notable rise in private schools from 3,554 to 5,725 during the same period, reflecting the growing demand for alternative educational options. Meghalaya, however, saw a decline from 2,274 to 2,152 private schools. Arunachal Pradesh maintained consistent growth, adding 82 private schools over the decade.
The minister said the Central Government assist States and UTs through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha. Financial assistance is also provided to the States and UTs for various activities to reduce dropout in Govt. schools, which include opening/strengthening of new schools up to senior secondary level, strengthening school infrastructure, setting up, upgradation and running of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV) upto class 12, setting up of residential schools/hostel named Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Avasiya Vidyalayas, transport allowance, undertaking enrolment drives, seasonal hostels/residential camps, provision of vocational education and ICT facilities in schools, providing free textbooks and free uniform, transport/escort facility, etc, financial assistance is also provided for aid and appliances for children with special needs.
