Why Are Government Schools Shutting Down?

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03 Aug Why Are Government Schools Shutting Down?

Posted at 03 Aug 2026 in Current Affairs, Daily Current Affairs for UPSC by
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Why in the News?

A recent NITI Aayog report highlights the large-scale closure of government schools across India. Nearly 94,000 government schools have closed over the past decade, raising concerns about school rationalisation, access to education and the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

Key Data

  • Nearly 94,000 government schools closed over the past decade.
  • Government school enrolment declined from 71% in 2005 to 49.24% in 2024–25.
  • Government schools declined from around 11.07 lakh in 2014–15 to 10.17 lakh in 2023–24.
  • Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir have witnessed significant closures.
  • India is home to nearly 60% of the world’s below-poverty-line population, making affordable government schooling particularly important.

Why Are Government Schools Being Shut Down?

School Rationalisation

School closures are primarily taking place under school rationalisation programmes.

Reasons Given

  • Very low student enrolment.
  • Migration of families.
  • Demographic changes.
  • Schools becoming economically or administratively difficult to operate.
  • Merging schools to improve utilisation of teachers and infrastructure.

However

School closures cannot be viewed merely as a consequence of declining population.

They can disproportionately affect poor and rural children who have the least capacity to travel long distances for education.

States Most Affected

Uttar Pradesh

  • Government school numbers declined from 1.63 lakh to 1.38 lakh in a year in the period cited.
  • Government school enrolment has also witnessed a decline.

Madhya Pradesh

  • Government schools declined from around 1.22 lakh in 2018–19 to 99,411 the following year.

Jammu & Kashmir

  • More than 4,300 schools have been closed or merged under rationalisation.
  • Children in some areas reportedly have to travel 4–6 km to reach functioning schools.

Impact on Children

1. Reduced Access to Education

School consolidation can increase the distance between children’s homes and schools.

This particularly affects:

  • Rural children
  • Poor households
  • Girls
  • Scheduled Castes (SCs)
  • Scheduled Tribes (STs)
  • Other socially disadvantaged communities

2. Higher Dropout Risk

Longer travel distances can encourage families to withdraw children from school.

The burden can be particularly severe for girls, who may be the first to be withdrawn when the nearest school becomes inaccessible.

3. Loss of Neighbourhood Schools

The Right to Education Act, 2009 envisages access to schooling within a reasonable neighbourhood.

School consolidation can undermine this principle when children are required to travel several kilometres to reach a functioning school.

Problem of School Rationalisation

Rationalisation can create large combined classrooms where one teacher is required to teach students from multiple grades simultaneously.

Consequences

  • Reduced individual attention.
  • Poor learning outcomes.
  • Difficulty in implementing age-appropriate pedagogy.
  • Possible violation of RTE norms relating to:
    • Teacher availability
    • Classroom conditions
    • Quality of education

Thus, school consolidation may improve administrative efficiency but weaken educational accessibility and quality.

Disproportionate Impact on Vulnerable Groups

A 2019 National Sample Survey analysis found that access to free education was already unequal.

Most Vulnerable Groups

  • Muslim households
  • Scheduled Castes
  • Scheduled Tribes
  • Rural populations
  • Poor households
  • Girls

These groups may be disproportionately affected when the nearest government school is shut down.

Government Response

The government has undertaken initiatives such as:

School Chalen Hum

  • Outreach programme aimed at bringing children into school.

Home Contact Campaign

  • Attempts to identify children who are out of school and facilitate their enrolment.

Drop Box Initiative

  • Used to identify children who have no school records and may be at risk of dropping out.

However, the effectiveness of such initiatives depends on actual identification, enrolment and retention of children.

Right to Education Act, 2009

Key Provisions

The RTE Act, 2009:

  • Provides free and compulsory education to children aged 6–14 years.
  • Seeks to ensure access to elementary education.
  • Provides for norms relating to:
    • Pupil-teacher ratio
    • Infrastructure
    • Teachers
    • School functioning
    • Quality of education
  • Emphasises the concept of neighbourhood schools.

Why Has the RTE Act Fallen Short?

1. Weak Enforcement

Although the RTE Act creates legal entitlements, poor and rural families often lack the institutional capacity to enforce these rights.

2. Unequal Power Relations

The Act assumes that the state, school and family have relatively equal capacity to assert and enforce rights.

In reality, disadvantaged parents may struggle to:

  • Approach authorities.
  • File complaints.
  • Participate effectively in School Management Committees.
  • Challenge school closures.

3. Access vs Quality

The RTE framework focuses on ensuring entry into school, but mere enrolment does not guarantee quality education.

A child may technically have access to education while facing:

  • Long travel distances.
  • Teacher shortages.
  • Poor infrastructure.
  • Multigrade classrooms.
  • Weak learning outcomes.

Who Is Responsible?

Education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution.

Therefore:

  • Both the Centre and States have roles in education.
  • States have significant responsibility for implementation and school administration.
  • The Centre also has responsibilities under the RTE framework and through financial and policy support.

The issue therefore requires cooperative federalism rather than assigning responsibility to only one level of government.

Way Forward

1. Rationalise Without Reducing Accessibility

School mergers should consider:

  • Distance to the nearest school.
  • Transport facilities.
  • Population density.
  • Socio-economic conditions.
  • Safety of children, especially girls.

2. Strengthen Neighbourhood Schools

Government should ensure that children do not have to travel unreasonable distances to access elementary education.

3. Improve Government School Quality

Focus on:

  • Adequate teachers.
  • Better infrastructure.
  • Digital and learning resources.
  • Smaller and manageable classrooms.
  • Foundational literacy and numeracy.

4. Strengthen RTE Enforcement

  • Make School Management Committees more effective.
  • Provide accessible grievance-redress mechanisms.
  • Ensure accountability of authorities.

5. Special Focus on Vulnerable Groups

Policies should prioritise:

  • Girls
  • SC/ST children
  • Poor households
  • Rural populations
  • Children with disabilities

UPSC Prelims Practice Question

Q. With reference to the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, consider the following statements:

  1. It guarantees free and compulsory education to children between 6 and 14 years of age.
  2. It seeks to ensure norms relating to teachers, infrastructure and pupil-teacher ratio.
  3. It makes education a subject exclusively under the control of the Union Government.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Explanation

The RTE Act provides free and compulsory education to children aged 6–14 years and establishes norms related to teachers, infrastructure and pupil-teacher ratios. Education is in the Concurrent List, so both the Centre and States have roles.

 

Ayush Ranjan
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