Schools with no students; Burden for Kerala govt ?

1197 schools are functioning in the state without even having 25 students in total. It is a revelation and a disgrace to the public education sector in Kerala. During the last academic year, the numbers were 961 schools, but now it has turned to 1197. Things are worsening if the numbers are any indication.

Although the number of children has decreased significantly, public schools will have to continue according to the norms set by the government. The government will also have to bear the financial loss included in running such institutions. The figures that have come out now question the claim of the education department that earlier boasted about students increasing in public schools.

In the last two years, the number of children enrolled in the first standard in government and aided schools has been low. At the same time, there was a significant increase in the number of students joining private schools for the same class. There is a common misconception in society and among parents, that public schools are inferior in academic standards as compared to private ones. The word of the mouth is such strong that even people from financially struggling families would not risk taking admission for their children in public schools. They prefer private schools any day over public ones.

Until 2017, there existed a norm to label a school with less than 15 students as ‘Un –Economic’. As per the numbers, most of the schools with fewer students are in the aided sector. 745-aided schools are functioning with less than 25 students. In the government sector, there are 452 schools in this category. In these 34 government schools, the number of children is less than ten. There are 160 schools in the private sector.

The government must find some way to overcome the economic and social consequences created by schools that have to work with staggeringly low numbers of students. There also arises a risk for teachers in those schools who may lose their jobs if the schools were to shut down.

Public schools with less number of children, that are in the same location or close by, can be merged to work together as a single one. Such alternate ways need to be explored rather than draining the financial reserves. Running a school with barely 10 students serves no real purpose and may look like an odd setup.