Addressing concerns raised by various associations of teachers and schools about the probable closure of government schools, Minister for School Education K. Sengottaiyan said on Wednesday that no such decision has yet been taken.
“The department has identified 29 elementary schools which do not have any students. It has a list of around 900 schools where less than 10 students are enrolled. There are, however, no plans of closing these schools and instead, the department is going to step up measures to increase enrolment,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of the announcement of the SSLC results.
Teachers and heads of such schools had been instructed to conduct awareness drives.
“We want enrolments to increase in our schools and want to tell the students that with the new syllabus being introduced, they will be at an added advantage and they don’t have to go looking elsewhere for good education by paying for it beyond their means,” he said. The faculty in the schools identified with low strength had been given time till September to carry out the same.
