Lok Sabha Question No. 3606 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-11
Subject: Closure of Government Schools
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Amra Ram, Shri K Radhakrishnan

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO3606

ANSWERED ON- 11.08.2025

## CLOSURE OF GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS

3606. Shri K Radhakrishnan: Shri Amra Ram: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a)  the  number  of  Government  schools  that  have  been  closed  across  the  country during the last five years, year-wise and State/UT-wise; (b) the reasons for such closure, including lack of enrollment, infrastructure issues or administrative reasons; (c)  whether  the  decision  for  closing  the  school  is  contrary  to  the  aim  of  Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to educate all; (d) whether the Government has conducted any assessment of the impact of closure of schools on access to education, particularly in rural, tribal and backward areas; (e) whether any steps has been taken to ensure that the affected students continue their education without disruption; and (f) the details of any policy measures or guidelines issued to prevent further closures
2. and to strengthen school education in underserved areas?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a): The Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL) 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. As per UDISE+, the State/UT-wise number of Government schools of last 5 years are at Annexure. (b)  to  (f):  Education  is  in  the  Concurrent  list  of  the  Constitution  and  the  opening, merger/closing of schools are within the purview of respective State Government and UT Administration-which are the appropriate Government under the Right of Children

- to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

Since  2018-19,  this  Department  is  implementing  an  Integrated  Centrally sponsored  scheme  of  Samagra  Shiksha  -  which  subsumes  the  three  erstwhile Centrally Sponsored  Schemes  of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (RMSA)  and  Teacher  Education  (TE).  Under  the Scheme, financial assistance is provided to the States and UTs for opening/strengthening of new schools upto senior secondary level, construction of school buildings & additional classrooms.

Substantial  advancements  have  been  made  in  ensuring  universal  access across  all  levels  of  school  education.  This  is  evidenced  by  the  improvement  in Gross Access Ratio (GAR) from 2018-19 to 2024-25 as under:

|   India |   (GAR) Primary |   (GAR) Uppar Primary |   (GAR) Secondary | (GAR) Higher Secondary   |
|---------|-----------------|-----------------------|-------------------|--------------------------|
|   97.15 |           96.49 |                 88.24 |             65.05 | 2018-19                  |
|   97.83 |           96.57 |                 95.35 |             94.97 | 2024-25                  |

Para 7.4 of  the  National  Education  Policy  2020  underscores  that  although consolidation of schools is an option that is often discussed, it must be carried out very  judiciously,  and  only  when  it  is  ensured  that  there  is  no  impact  on  access. Similarly, to ensure universal access to elementary schools, Section 6 of the RTE Act mandates the establishment of schools by the appropriate government within defined  area  or  neighbourhood  limits.    Therefore,  to  achieve  better  learning outcomes and appropriate Pupil-Teacher Ratios (PTR) across upper primary and secondary levels, some states have adopted appropriate strategies to establish the larger schools as per aspirations of the public.

For the habitations that remain uncovered (mostly small or sparsely populated in difficult areas) where opening of school is not feasible, transport facility is provided up to an average cost @ ₹ 6000/ per child per annum up to Class X.

Further,  financial  assistance  is  provided  to  the  State/UT  Government  for opening  and  running  of  Netaji  Subhash  Chandra  Bose  Awasiya  Vidyalayas  in remote, sparsely populated and difficult to reach areas, hilly terrains, areas affected by LWE, large uninhabited areas with natural barriers. Financial assistance is also provided under PM-JANMAN component of Samagra Shiksha to the States and UTs for  the  unserved  identified  Particularly  Vulnerable  Tribal  Groups  and  under  Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) component of Samagra Shiksha, for the unserved ST population.

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ANNEXURE ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (A)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  3606  ANSWERED  ON  11.08.2025  ASKED  BY HONB'LE MP SHRI K RADHAKRISHNAN AND SHRI AMRA RAM REGARDING

'CLOSURE OF GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS'

The State/UT-wise number of Government schools of the last 5 years is as below:

| State/UT                  | 2019-20   |   2020-21 |   2021-22 |   2022-23 |   2023-24 |
|---------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | 342       |       342 |       342 |       342 |       340 |
| Andhra Pradesh            | 45115     |     45145 |     45137 |     45167 |     45000 |
| Arunachal Pradesh         | 3056      |      3061 |      2985 |      2922 |      2847 |
| Assam                     | 47157     |     46749 |     45490 |     44925 |     45008 |
| Bihar                     | 72610     |     75555 |     75558 |     75550 |     78120 |
| Chandigarh                | 121       |       121 |       123 |       119 |       119 |
| Chhattisgarh              | 48547     |     48619 |     48743 |     48728 |     48803 |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli      | 300       |       407 |       388 |       387 |       360 |
| Daman & Diu Delhi         | 109 2767  |      2751 |      2762 |      2673 |      2693 |
| Goa                       | 827       |       821 |       814 |       806 |       789 |
| Gujarat                   | 35040     |     34967 |     34699 |     34651 |     34597 |
| Haryana                   | 14484     |     14563 |     14562 |     14443 |     14374 |
| Himachal Pradesh          | 15398     |     15391 |     15380 |     15447 |     15217 |
| Jammu & Kashmir           | 23165     |     23167 |     23173 |     18785 |     18785 |
| Jharkhand                 | 35931     |     35888 |     35840 |     35764 |     35795 |
| Karnataka                 | 49834     |     49791 |     49679 |     49520 |     49306 |
| Kerala                    | 5014      |      5020 |      5010 |      4811 |      4809 |
| Ladakh                    | 913       |       915 |       838 |       841 |       841 |
| Lakshadweep               | 45        |        45 |        38 |        37 |        37 |
| Madhya Pradesh            | 99411     |     99152 |     92695 |     92741 |     92439 |
| Maharashtra               | 65886     |     65734 |     65639 |     65431 |     65157 |
| Manipur                   | 2876      |      2878 |      2889 |      2922 |      2934 |
| Meghalaya                 | 7799      |      7795 |      7783 |      7778 |      7779 |
| Mizoram                   | 2552      |      2558 |      2563 |      2567 |      2587 |
| Nagaland                  | 2011      |      1975 |      1960 |      1954 |      1952 |
| Odisha                    | 53260     |     50256 |     49072 |     48767 |     48671 |
| Puducherry                | 422       |       422 |       422 |       422 |       420 |
| Punjab                    | 19377     |     19330 |     19259 |     19245 |     19242 |
| Rajasthan                 | 67660     |     68813 |     68948 |     69538 |     70233 |
| Sikkim                    | 851       |       851 |       864 |       864 |       864 |
| Tamil Nadu                | 37579     |     37589 |     37636 |     37658 |     37672 |
| Telangana                 | 30001     |     30015 |     30023 |     29997 |     30022 |
| Tripura                   | 4275      |      4265 |      4262 |      4245 |      4238 |
| Uttar Pradesh             | 137638    |    137068 |    137024 |    137003 |    137102 |
| Uttarakhand               | 16741     |     16651 |     16484 |     16381 |     16201 |
| West Bengal               | 83456     |     83379 |     83302 |     82579 |     82307 |

Source: UDISE, UDISE+