Budget Session 2026: How many government schools closed across the country in the past five years? These figures will shock you.

Budget Session 2026: How many government schools closed across the country in the past five years? These figures will shock you.

Both MPs stated that the closure of government schools is negatively impacting the education of children from poor and rural areas. They demanded that the government provide complete information on this matter and explain what steps are being taken in this regard.

During the recent Budget Session in the Lok Sabha, a major question was raised regarding the closure of government schools. Congress MP Dr. Mohammad Javed from Bihar and MP Bhajan Lal Jatav from Rajasthan asked Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, "Is the government aware of how many government schools have been closed or shut down across the country in the last five years? How many schools have been closed state-wise and union territory-wise? What were the reasons for closing these schools?  It should also be stated how many children have dropped out of school due to these closures?"

What the MPs said

Both MPs stated that the closure of government schools is having a very negative impact on the education of children from poor and rural areas. They wanted the government to provide complete information on this matter and explain what steps are being taken in this direction.

What the Education Minister said

Responding in the House, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that education falls under the Concurrent List in the Constitution of India. This means that opening, closing, or merging schools (rationalization) is primarily the responsibility of the state governments and Union Territory administrations. The central government does not take direct decisions in this matter. He explained that under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act), it is mandatory to provide primary education (Classes 1 to 5) to every child near their home or in their neighborhood. According to Section 6 of the RTE Act, all states have fixed the distance and standards for neighborhood schools. Section 8 states that it is the duty of the state government to ensure that every child receives free and compulsory education and has access to a school.

Dharmendra Pradhan provided these figures

The Education Minister said that the government is concerned about the availability of schools and a lot of work has been done in this direction. He cited data from UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus), a reliable system for collecting school education data. According to this data, access to schools in the country has improved significantly. This is measured by the Gross Access Ratio (GAR), which represents the percentage of villages or settlements in a given area that have schools available within prescribed standards.

Here are the school access figures:

Primary level (Classes 1-5): 97.15% in 2018-19, increasing to 97.83% in 2024-25.
Upper primary level (Classes 6-8): 96.49% in 2018-19, increasing to 96.57% in 2024-25.
Secondary level (Classes 9-10): 88.24% in 2018-19, increasing to 95.35% in 2024-25.
Higher secondary level (Classes 11-12): 65.05% in 2018-19, increasing to 94.97% in 2024-25.
These figures show that access to schools at various levels is continuously improving. Simultaneously, the dropout rate has also decreased.

Decisions regarding children's education:

Dharmendra Pradhan emphasized that no school can be closed or merged without adhering to the rules of the RTE Act. If a school is closed, it is ensured that the children's education is not affected and they are transferred to a nearby school. The central government provides assistance to states under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan scheme to improve schools, ensure the availability of teachers, and prevent children from dropping out.