Lucknow, Jul 24 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government's ongoing "school pairing" policy has sparked sharp backlash from opposition parties, who allege it is a covert move to shut down government schools and deny education to marginalised children.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav called the policy a "conspiracy" against 'pichda' (backward), Dalit and 'alpsankhyak' (minority) (PDA) communities, and warned that his party would open "PDA Pathshalas" in every village where schools are affected.
"If the BJP bulldozes its will against the High Court's order and merges schools, we will open PDA Pathshalas in every village where children's right to education is being snatched," Yadav posted on the social media platform X.
He accused the BJP of weakening public education while expanding its own political infrastructure, stating, "The BJP is shutting schools and opening party offices. BJP must go for education to come."
The Uttar Pradesh Congress also denounced the policy as anti-poor and anti-education. State Congress president Ajay Rai welcomed the High Court's interim stay on the move in Sitapur district and demanded an immediate halt to the policy across the state.
"This court order is a step toward stopping the government from robbing poor and marginalised children of education," Rai said.
"The pairing of 27,000 schools was a cruel attempt that would have denied education to lakhs of children and eliminated thousands of jobs."
He further alleged that the real intent behind the policy was to promote privatisation in the education sector, adding, "On one hand, the government is opening liquor shops, and on the other, it is closing schools."
The CPI (ML) Liberation also joined the criticism, calling for a complete withdrawal of the initiative. State secretary Sudhakar Yadav said the policy had disrupted schooling in rural areas and violated the Right to Education Act.
"In many cases, children are now forced to cross highways or railway tracks to reach distant schools. Many have dropped out altogether, especially girls," he said.
Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench on Thursday ordered a status quo on the school pairing exercise in Sitapur district until August 21. The order came while hearing petitions filed by two students challenging the state's move to merge low-enrolment government primary schools.
Though the interim stay applies only to Sitapur, opposition parties are citing the court's observations to demand that the entire policy be scrapped across the state.
According to officials, the initiative undertaken by the state government to 'pair' schools with low enrolment is aimed at pooling resources, improving infrastructure and aligning with the goals of the National Education Policy 2020.
The policy has set in motion the pairing of over 10,000 of the 1.3 lakh government-run primary schools across the state and merging schools with fewer than 50 students into nearby institutions.