Priyanka Gandhi slams UP govt’s plan to close schools in the name of merger
Priyanka Gandhi slams UP govt’s plan to close schools in the name of merger
M.U.H
14/07/202524
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Monday criticized the Uttar Pradesh government’s plan to close around 5,000 government schools in the name of merger, with teachers’ organizations claiming the actual number could be as high as 27,000.
“If schools are located far from home, how will young children, especially girls, walk several kilometers to reach school? It is obvious that their education will be disrupted. Why is this right being taken away from children,” Priyanka Gandhi questioned in a post on X.
As a part of a broader effort to optimize resource allocation and improve the quality of education in the state, the UP government is merging around 5,000 government schools with low student enrollment (less than 50 students) to consolidate resources and improve the functionality of the education system.
“The UPA government had introduced the Right to Education Act under which a provision was made to have a primary school within a radius of every kilometer so that schools are accessible to children from all sections of society,” Gandhi said asserting: “This order of the BJP government is not only against the Right to Education but also against the Dalit, backward, tribal, minority, poor, and deprived sections.”