Closing schools is not the solution: Delhi CM on Assam schools facing shut down

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal while reacting on the report of 34 schools of Assam facing closure due to poor performance in the Higher Secondary Examination, stated that closing schools cannot be a solution to this. 

“Closing schools is not the solution. We need to open more schools all over the country. Instead of closing the school, improve the quality of the education and the school with proper initiatives,” wrote Delhi CM Kejriwal in his tweet.

A total of 34 schools are facing an uncertain future after the state government of Assam decided that ‘schools showing zero percentage results in the last HSLC examinations should be amalgamated/merged with other schools by August this year.’

At a review meeting held on July 17, 2022, the Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma ordered the Department of Secondary Education that schools with zero percentage in the HSLC examination shall face punitive action. The Secondary Education Department has already started the process of school amalgamation following the CM’s orders.

There will be mergers/amalgamations of seven government/provincialized schools in the Karbi Anglong district, five in the Cachar district, two in the Jorhat district, one in the West Karbi Anglong district, two each in the Dhubri, Goalpara, Lakhimpur, and Nagaon districts, and one in each of the following districts that is Chirang, Darrang, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Kamrup, Kokrajhar and Nalbari

When India Today NE tried to reach out to the state education minister Dr. Ranoj Pegu, the minister curtly said that he has no idea about the school closure report.

Rightly so, his statement does sound problematic at this juncture when the Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma had himself mentioned about the school amalgamation during a review meeting. 

Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party has been earning praises from all quarters for their education model in which most of the government schools in the national capital have been revamped and upgraded to modern standards, so as to attract more students. 

Recently, the New York Times published a report praising Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for successfully overhauling the education system in the national capital.