Not a single admission this year, over 50 schools to be closed

The admissions in government schools fell drastically over the years, with the School Education Department failing to get even a single admission in 46 schools across the State in the current academic year. Of them, about 20 are elementary schools while the rest are middle schools.

A senior official from the Directorate of School Education told DT Next that the government has decided to close the schools that have nil admissions. The official added that the teachers’ positions would not be affected despite the closure of schools as they would be transferred to the government schools nearby. “About 60 teachers would be sent to other government schools in their areas,” said the official.

With six schools to be closed in the district, The Nilgiris tops the list, followed by four each in Sivaganga and Vellore, three each in Virudhunagar, Namakkal, Tiruvannamalai and Krishnagiri, two in Dindugul, Pudukkottai, Villupuram, Dharmapuri, Karur, Erode, Theni, Tirunelveli, Thanjavur and Ramanathapuram, and one in Tiruchy, Nagapattinam, Kancheepuram, Cuddalore, Salem and Tirupur.

According to the official, these schools would be reopened if they manage to get a minimum of 15 admissions, and added that the government would try its best for this. He also pointed out that the schools that are closed would be turned into public libraries. Strongly opposing this government move, the Tamil Nadu Teacher’s Association expressed shock and demanded immediate repeal of the decision. “The government failed to explore what went wrong and why it could not get admissions to the schools,” association president PK Ilamaran said.

Every year, the government schools were losing about 1.21 lakh students who are being admitted to private schools under Rights to Education (RTE) Act, he said, adding that the government was spending Rs 100 crore annually to reimburse fee to the private institutions.

“Sending students to private schools under RTE and closing down government institutions is not acceptable,” Ilamaran said, adding that the government should give admission to the more than 3,000 students, who are currently studying in unrecognised private schools across the State.