{
  "type": "article",
  "title": "Parliament Debates Closure of 1 Lakh Government Schools: What NITI Aayog Data Reveals About Mergers",
  "summary": "Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav claimed in Parliament that 1 lakh primary schools were shut down in 10 years, while a NITI Aayog report attributes the decline to mergers.",
  "content": "Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav launched a scathing attack on the Union government in Parliament over paper leak controversies and the broader state of elementary education in India. Citing official data, the opposition leader claimed that nearly one lakh government primary schools across the country have been shut down over the past decade under the current administration, with Uttar Pradesh suffering the largest share of closures. While these remarks have sparked an intense political debate, a detailed analysis of a recent NITI Aayog study presents a nuanced picture involving school consolidations rather than outright shuttering.\n\nParliamentary Attack and Opposition Claims\nDuring parliamentary proceedings, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP led government of mounting systematic attacks on the country's education infrastructure, examination systems, and university ecosystem. He argued that the administration was attempting to dismantle the fundamental framework of public education, starting right at the foundational tier. According to him, primary schools serve as the essential entry point for children entering the formal education system, yet these very institutions have been targeted for closure.\n\nElaborating on figures inside the House, Akhilesh Yadav asserted that approximately one lakh primary schools have been closed across India in a 10 year period. He highlighted that Uttar Pradesh alone witnessed the shutting down of 26,386 primary schools. The opposition leader alleged that the policy direction reflects a deliberate attempt to keep underprivileged, Dalit, and economically backward children from receiving proper education, warning that weakening the foundational base of primary schooling will inevitably crumble the entire educational structure.\n\nNITI Aayog Data and the School Consolidation Policy\nAn examination of official documentation reveals that Akhilesh Yadav's references draw from findings outlined in a NITI Aayog publication. In early May, the government think tank released a comprehensive report titled School Education System in India. The report acknowledges that the total count of government schools nationwide decreased by roughly 94,000 over the past decade. However, the document characterizes this trend not as permanent closures, but as an outcome of administrative mergers and structural rationalization.\n\nThe statistical breakdown in the NITI Aayog report shows that in the academic year 2014-15, India had 11.07 lakh government schools. By the academic year 2024-25, this total had contracted to 10.13 lakh, marking a net reduction of approximately 94,000 public schools. The report explains that primary schools with critically low student enrollments were merged into neighboring primary schools to pool teaching resources, improve infrastructure, and optimize administrative efficiency.\n\nExpansion of Private Schools and Declining Student Enrollment\nAlongside the reduction in public school numbers, the NITI Aayog report highlights a simultaneous growth in private educational institutions across the country. In 2014-15, there were approximately 2.88 lakh private schools operating in India. Over the ten year period leading up to 2024-25, this figure expanded to 3.39 lakh, reflecting a noticeable shift toward private schooling alternatives.\n\nThe study also outlines broader demographic shifts in total student enrollment across both public and private systems. Overall student enrollment fell from 26.95 crore in 2014-15 to 24.69 crore over the ten year timeframe. Furthermore, transition rates from upper primary to secondary levels experienced a drop. The proportion of students progressing from upper primary to secondary school fell from 91.58 percent to 86.6 percent over the same decade, highlighting ongoing retention challenges within the school system.\n\nMassive Mergers in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh\nThe report underscores that state level school restructuring was most pronounced in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. While Akhilesh Yadav focused on his assertion of 26,386 closures in Uttar Pradesh, the NITI Aayog data shows that together, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh accounted for nearly 40,000 school mergers.\n\nWhile government authorities maintain that merging low enrollment schools strengthens educational delivery by providing better facilities and staff, opposition critics maintain that eliminating local primary facilities hampers accessibility for vulnerable communities. Akhilesh Yadav reiterated that primary schooling shapes early childhood development, claiming that closing local schools creates physical and financial hurdles for poor families aiming to educate their children.\n\nWhat this means for you\n• Across India: The consolidation of low-enrollment public schools may require students in rural areas to travel slightly further for elementary schooling.\n• In Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh: With around 40,000 school mergers across these two states, local families must adapt to sending children to consolidated neighboring facilities.\n\nQuestions & Answers\n\n1. What claim did Akhilesh Yadav make in Parliament regarding primary schools?\nHe claimed that nearly 1 lakh government primary schools were closed across India in 10 years, including 26,386 schools in Uttar Pradesh alone.\n\n2. What does the NITI Aayog report show about government school numbers?\nThe report indicates that government schools decreased from 11.07 lakh in 2014-15 to 10.13 lakh in 2024-25, showing a reduction of about 94,000 schools.\n\n3. Were the primary schools shut down or merged into existing ones?\nAccording to the NITI Aayog study, the decline is attributed to school mergers and restructuring of low-enrollment schools rather than complete shutdowns.\n\n4. How did the number of private schools change over the last decade?\nPrivate school numbers grew from 2.88 lakh in 2014-15 to 3.39 lakh in 2024-25.\n\n5. How many primary schools were merged in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh combined?\nData shows that approximately 40,000 primary schools were merged across Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh combined.",
  "url": "https://trendkia.com/en/national/snsada-men-utha-1-lakh-sarakari-skula-bnda-hone-ka-mudda-janen-niti-aayog-ki-riporta-men-kya-nikala-sacha-11431",
  "category": "India",
  "publishedAt": "2026-07-28",
  "tags": [
    "Akhilesh Yadav",
    "Primary Schools",
    "NITI Aayog",
    "Uttar Pradesh",
    "Education Policy",
    "School Mergers"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "site": "TrendKia"
}