VIJAYAWADA: The School Education Department has initiated steps to address the issues raised pertaining to the merger of primary and upper primary schools with the nearby high schools in the State.
The government has completed mapping of 5,919 schools for merger. But the student unions and parents associations in some districts have started staging protests demanding rollback of the decision. With this, the education department has started the process of identifying the reasons for protests and rectifying the same if the demands are genuine.
The parents have cited distance as the reason for their opposition to the merger proposal as it will be difficult for their children to travel long distance in heavy traffic to go to school.
Of the total 173 schools mapped in Eluru district for merger, objections have been received from 23 schools so far. After the merger of schools, only six students have been left in Kummaripalem school, only one in Kovvada special school, five in Vellaturu and seven in Venkatarajupuram Primary School.
UTF State treasurer B Gopi Murthy feared that many schools will be closed down across the State if the student strength falls below 10. Calls are being made from the MEO offices saying that students and teachers have been shifted to other places without issuing written orders to the respective school headmasters, he alleged.
The education department has directed Samagra Shiksha POs, RJDs and DEOs to study the situation at the field level in view of the protests from student unions and parents associations. The officials will visit schools to check whether there are any errors in the school mapping and submit a report.
A Ashok, State secretary of Students Federation of India, said the merger of schools has eventually led to the decline in student enrolment in government schools. He demanded that the government stop merging the classes immediately for the benefit of students.
Mukala Apparao, State president of Noble Teachers Association, opined that with the latest move of merging schools, many parents have admitted their children in private schools as the Amma Vodi scheme is also available there.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Commissioner of School Education S Suresh Kumar stated that they have completed mapping of 5,919 schools in the State, but the move has triggered protests against merger only in case of less than 100 schools.
He asserted that there are no objections from more than five places in each district, except in East Godavari, Anantapur and Chittoor, where they received objections from 10 to 15 places. The protests are insignificant and if the problem at any place is genuine, it will be rectified, he explained.
Rationalisation
5,919 schools in the State mapped for merger
Objections from not more than 5 places in most of the districts
Objections received from 10 to 15 places in East Godavari, Anantapur and Chittoor