Lok Sabha Question No. 211 (STARRED), answered on 2025-12-15
Subject: Merger of Government Schools
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Narayandas Ahirwar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO - 211

## ANSWERED ON 15/12/2025

## Merger of Government Schools

†*211. Shri Narayandas Ahirwar:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that many Government schools with less number of students in various States have been merged with the nearby bigger schools, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government is aware that such mergers have increased the distance and schooling cost of rural and poor children thereby affecting their education and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has conducted any study/evaluation to assess the impact of school mergers on enrolment rate and quality of teaching, if so, the details thereof;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  consider  the  said  policies  as  an  attempt  to  strengthen  the  Government education system or as a step to promote private education and if so, the details thereof;
- (e)  whether  the  Government  is  implementing  any  scheme  to  ensure  that  the  number  of  Government schools does not decrease and all children have access to free and quality education near their homes; and (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

(a) to (f): A statement is laid on the table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (A)  TO  (F)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  211  ANSWERED  ON  15/12/2025  ASKED  BY  HONB'LE  MP SHRI NARAYANDAS AHIRWAR REGARDING 'MERGER OF GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS'

(a)  to  (f):  Education  is  in  the  Concurrent  list  of  the  Constitution  and  the  opening,  closing  and rationalisation of schools are within the purview of 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  neighbourhood.  In pursuance to Section 6 of the RTE Act, all States have notified area 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.

As per UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus), State/UT wise Gross Enrolment  Ratio  (GER)  by  level  of  education  for  the  year  2023-24  and  2024-25  are  available  at https://www.education.gov.in/en/parl\_ques .

Strengthening  of  teacher  training/education  programmes  is  supported  under  the  centrally sponsored  scheme  of  Samagra  Shiksha  in  alignment  with  the  recommendations  of  the  National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. The interventions under Samagra Shiksha are aimed at strengthening of  physical  infrastructure  in  Teacher  Education  Institutions  (TEIs);  support  to  State  Councils  of Educational Research and Trainings (SCERTs) so that they can effectively and efficiently carry out quality teacher education, research and develop state-specific curriculum framework, as a follow up to the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF SE); capacity building of District Institute  of  Education  and  Training  (DIET)  functionaries;  continuous  academic  support  to  schools through BRC/CRC etc.

As per the data available on UDISE+, advancements have been made in improving universal access  across  all  levels  of  school  education.  This  is  evidenced  by  Gross  Access  Ratio  (GAR)  for 2018-19 and 2024-25:

| Year    |   Primary |   Upper Primary |   Secondary |   Higher Secondary |
|---------|-----------|-----------------|-------------|--------------------|
| 2018-19 |     97.15 |           96.49 |       88.24 |              65.05 |
| 2024-25 |     97.83 |           96.57 |       95.35 |              94.97 |

GAR: Gross access ratio (GAR) is total villages/habitations having school within specified norm in a year out of total villages/habitations in that year.

The  PARAKH  Rashtriya  Sarvekshan  2024,  conducted  in  December  2024  by  the  National Assessment  Centre,  PARAKH  (NCERT),  under  the  Ministry  of  Education,  assessed  baseline competency  development  in  students  of  Grades  3,  6,  and  9  as  per  the  National  Education  Policy 2020. Over 21.15 lakh students and 2.70 lakh teachers from more than 74,000 schools across 781 districts participated. National, State, and District-level report cards are available at https://dashboard.parakh.ncert.gov.in/en. Previously, the government of India has conducted National Achievement Survey (NAS) in 2021, with an objective to evaluate students learning outcomes and competencies. The class wise, subject wise and management wise details of performance of students at National, State/UT and District level are available at https://nas.gov.in/report-card/2021.

Also, Central Government assist States and UTs through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha and Mid-Day Meal provided from Balvatika to class 8 under Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Yojna. Financial assistance is also provided to the States and UTs for various activities to increase enrolment in Government schools, which include opening/strengthening of  new  schools  up  to  senior  secondary  level,  strengthening  school  infrastructure,  setting  up  and  up gradation  and  running  of  Kasturba  Gandhi  Balika  Vidyalayas  (KGBV)  upto  class  12,  setting  up  of residential  schools/hostels  named  Netaji  Subhas  Chandra  Bose  Avasiya  Vidyalayas,  hostels  under Pradhan  Mantri  Janjati  Adivasi  Nyaya  Maha  Abhiyan  (PM-JANMAN)  and  Dharti  Aaba  Janjatiya Gram  Utkarsh  Abhiyan  (DAJGUA),  transport  allowance,  undertaking  enrolment  drives,  seasonal hostels/residential  camps,  provision  of  vocational  education  and  ICT  facilities  in  schools,  providing free text books and free uniform, transport/escort facility, etc, financial assistance is also provided for aids and appliances for children with special needs.

PM SHRI Scheme has also been launched with an aim to develop more than 14,500 selected schools as exemplar schools that offer leadership to other schools in the neighbourhood, showcasing all the initiatives of NEP 2020.

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