VELLORE: The state government will not close any government school on the grounds of low student enrolment, School Education Minister Rajmohan said on Thursday, assuring that even schools with just one teacher in remote hamlets and hill areas would continue to function.
Addressing a felicitation ceremony at VIT for headmasters of government and government-aided schools in Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur and Tiruvannamalai districts that secured 100% pass results in the public examinations in 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26, the minister said the government was taking several measures to improve enrolment instead of shutting schools.
Referring to VIT Chancellor G Viswanathan's observation that nearly 94,000 schools had been closed across India in the past decade, including more than 200 in TN, Rajmohan acknowledged the figures but said no government school had been closed since the TVK government assumed office six months ago.
"We will not close government schools merely because of low enrolment. In remote corners, hamlets and hilltops where even human footprints are rare, a school with a single teacher stands ready for the child of a poor family," he said.
The event, chaired by Viswanathan, saw 341 headmasters who had achieved a 100% pass percentage receive certificates of appreciation. Welfare assistance totalling Rs 52 lakh was also distributed to them.
Speaking earlier, Viswanathan recalled that India had ranked 72nd among 73 countries in the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2009 and had since stopped participating in the assessment. He urged the creation of conditions for India to re-enter such international assessments, adding that while government schools had large enrolments, the quality of education also needed to improve.