Assam: Protests against school amalgamation in Dhemaji

Residents of Kapahtoli village on November 26 staged a protest against the merger of Kapahtoli Lower Primary School with another school in Assam's Dhemaji district. 

The residents also asked the government to cancel the merger and added, ''Students would have to go to another school which is 2 kms outside the village and it is not possible for them to send their children to such a distance''. 

The residents also said that Kapahtoli Lower Primary School is in a dilapidated condition and asked the government to improve the condition of the school rather than merging it with another school. 

They further alleged that post the amalgamation plan news teachers have stopped coming to the school, adding, ''Even the students are reluctant to go to another school and are complaining that the school is far from their home''. 

“As a guardian, it is very difficult for us to send our children here to study. Look at the condition of the school. How can our children study in a school where there is no classroom?  Rather than merging it with another school government should work on improving the condition of this school.” said a parent who has enrolled her children in the school. 

Earlier in September 2022, Assam Government had closed 1710 primary schools in the state and as part of the school rationalization process, the state education identified primary schools and merged them with nearby schools.

These schools had very few numbers of students for various reasons, including the availability of multiple primary schools in the same area, and had a highly skewed teacher-student ratio that didn’t justify running those schools. 

The number of students in some classes in those schools was in single digits. 

The state government had sent notices to all schools having less than 30 students informing them that those schools will be merged with nearby government schools, and the teachers will be transferred to other schools.

Although there have been protests against the amalgamation of schools, the state government has taken a strong position on the matter, saying that schools with poor results and a low number of students will be closed and merged with nearby schools. 

As part of that decision, 1710 schools in 20 districts have been closed. 

These schools include 62 in Barpeta district, 68 in Bongaigaon district, 129 in Cachar, 64 in Darrang, 85 in Dhemaji, 56 in Dhubri, 60 in Dibrugarh, 89 in Goalpara, 45 in Golaghat, 59 in Hailakandi, 182 in Jorhat district, 94 in Kamrup Metro, 50 in Tinsukia, 105 in Sonitpur, 136 in Sivasagar, 134 in Nalbari, 90 in Nagaon, 148 schools in Marigaon and 49 primary schools in Karimganj.

Education minister Ranoj Pegu had said that the amalgamation of schools will continue, based on results in board exams and the number of students.