BHUBANESWAR: The state government is willing to reopen the schools that were closed down on the basis of the merger policy of the previous BJD government.
Replying to a question of MLAs Nihar Ranjan Mahananda and Manas Kumar Datta, School and Mass Education minister Nityananda Gond informed the Assembly on Friday that a total 5,632 satellite schools were merged with nearby lead schools due to lack of adequate enrollment.
However, upon receiving proposal regarding reopening of such schools, the proposal can be investigated by the district-level committee and placed before the state-level committee for consideration.
The Minister has clarified that if a minimum 20 students can be enrolled in a school located in a scheduled area, or 40 students in non-scheduled area, the school will be eligible for reopening.
The minister also informed that the government is in the process of filling up teacher vacancies in high schools. Out of 40,166 teacher posts in high schools, currently 6,025 are vacant.