The Uttar Pradesh government had held back the merger of thousands of primary and upper primary schools after it became apparent that these ‘pairings’ were in danger of being arbitrary and that small children might be at a real risk of dropping out as their schools became further away.
The state’s school pairings, wherein schools with enrolment of less than 50 children are to be merged with nearby schools, have been touted as a measure of ‘transformation’ by the state government. Orders to this effect were issued on June 16, 2025.
The initiative targets government and aided schools. For primary schools, this pairing has to be within one kilometre and for upper primary, within three kilometres.
The government’s view is that these are targeted mergers and not closures. The pairing will enable better deployment of teachers, improved student-teacher ratios, shared use of infrastructure like libraries, labs and sports fields. It has also been said that paired schools will benefit from central schemes like Samagra Shiksha and UP’s own Project Alankar, receiving digital smart classrooms, science labs, solar energy, safe drinking water, and more.
VIDEO | Uttar Pradesh Minister Sandeep Singh says, "Our government is carrying out all those actions that will help children get a better education, to build a better future for them, to brighten their future — all this will be beneficial for the children. And as far as we are… pic.twitter.com/WaOxn6x9fD
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 31, 2025
It is also important to note that the vacated buildings are not to be abandoned but transformed into Bal Vatikas (pre-schools) and Anganwadi centres to help boost early childhood access to education.
However, children from a school in Sitapur approached the Allahabad High Court against this measure. On July 24, 2025, the HC directed the state government to maintain the status quo regarding the pairing of government primary schools in Sitapur district until August 21, 2025. This was an interim order passed by a division bench led by Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Jaspreet Singh, following the discovery of “glaring discrepancies” in the documents and processes presented by the state government regarding the pairing exercise.
The bench granted time to petitioners to respond to the state’s clarifications and listed the matter for fresh hearing on August 21, 2025. However, the bench clarified that this interim order does not express any view on the overall merits or legality of the pairing/merger policy itself.
It now appears that the government itself has detected anomalies in its pairing process, the most glaring of which is that schools with more than 50 enrolments are being paired off without keeping the distance criteria in mind. This has prompted the government to do away with the merger of 20-25 schools in almost every district of the state.
This comes close on the heels of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's warning that strict action will be taken against those officials and employees who pair schools against norms.
The education department has now launched a review of the pairing exercise to ensure that no norms are violated.
In the meantime, some sections of the local media have been vocal against the poor condition of school infrastructure in numerous schools that are to take in more children. Photos of fallen walls, non-functional toilets, and leaking roofs have been splashed in local dailies. This has prompted a check of school infrastructure as well, with the responsibility falling on the Basic Shiksha Adhikari in every district.
The pairing initiative, no matter what its stated objectives, faces the very real danger of children falling out of school. As is, the enrolment numbers in the state have been on the decline. In 2023-24, the Net Enrolment Ratio was 79 per cent, a drop from the 92.7 per cent in 2020-21.
There is also a decline in the NER at the Upper Primary level, which means that many children are not progressing from primary to upper primary. This fall in enrolment at the primary level in UP is worrying in view of the fact that it does not correspond to an overall demographic decline in the state.
Now, with the state government taking pause to examine its pairing initiative, there is every possibility that the whole exercise might fall into disuse.
