Nagaland govt urged to merge non-functional schools as session raises concerns over clustering

The Nagaland Legislative Assembly on March 10 heard calls to rationalise the state's school network, with a legislator pointing out that multiple government and private institutions had been set up in close proximity to each other, resulting in low enrolment and a surplus of teachers in some areas.

Raising the issue during the fourth day of the eighth session of the 14th NLA, Nuklutoshi asked the government whether it had specific criteria for upgrading government primary schools to middle, high and higher secondary levels, and whether laid-down norms existed for recognising private schools.

He suggested that the government consult local residents and stakeholders before merging or shutting schools that were either non-functional or had no students on roll.

Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, responding to the discussion, said the state already had guidelines on school upgradation, merger and rationalisation. He cited the Right to Education Act, which requires a primary school to be within one kilometre and an upper primary school within three kilometres of a neighbourhood.

Rio said an updated census was needed to improve data for planning and policy, and that Aadhaar and bank account details would be linked with biometric identification to strengthen data systems. He added that civil society organisations, church leaders and community representatives would be brought in to ensure accurate data collection.