The Department of School Education is planning to club schools with limited student strength in order to save extra expenditure. A direction in this regard has been given to the officials in a meeting held at Chennai recently. District officials have been asked to work out the possibility of clubbing such schools so that expenses on teachers and mid-day meals can be brought down.
“We have a list of schools and will discuss the clubbing possibilities with other officials within a week,” said an official from the department. Officials in the department feel it would not be an easy task. “There will be issues about what schools are to be clubbed. For instance how do we decide on whose premises the classes should continue? If better infrastructure facilities is taken as a deciding factor, it may cause problem. If a single teacher is posted in a school he/she cannot work the whole week without leave. The clubbing may also break the Right to Education rule that primary schools must be available within 1km from every locality,” said another official.