Mathura: At least 35 percent of state-run primary schools in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district have fewer than 50 students on average, a survey by the Basic Education Officer has found. Taking note of the findings, the state’s Basic Education Department has sought an explanation from the district administration for the low enrolment numbers.
According to the survey, a total of 1,26,613 students are enrolled in the 1,536 government primary schools in Mathura district. But a closer look reveals the bleak reality—551 of these schools have fewer than 50 students.
The survey also found that a significant number of government primary schools in Mathura district are in a dilapidated state, some even on the verge of collapse. Adding to that is the scarcity of qualified teachers, given that many schools only have shiksha mitras (education assistants) to make up for the lack of permanent teaching faculty.
Sunil Dutt, Basic Education Officer (Mathura) said the survey which led to these findings was conducted under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the Centre’s flagship programme to ensure Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time-bound manner.
The idea behind the survey was to take stock of several aspects of state-run primary schools, from the state of infrastructure to student enrolment, attendance and extracurricular activities, Dutt told ThePrint. But the primary focus was on the low enrolment numbers in government primary schools.
Primary schools in Uttar Pradesh are divided into two categories: prathamik vidyalay (primary) for Classes 1-5 and uchcha prathamik vidyalay (upper primary) for Classes 6-8. As per this structure, a child’s primary education lasts eight years—from ages 6 to 14.
In Uttar Pradesh, primary education is compulsory and free of cost in government schools under the Uttar Pradesh Right Of Children To Free And Compulsory Education Rules, 2011. The primary medium of instruction is Hindi, with the introduction of English as a second language Class 3 onwards.
However, as the survey revealed, at least 35 percent of state-run primary schools in Mathura district alone are functioning with fewer than 50 students and in some cases, a handful of students or even none at all.
The primary school in Nagla Devkaran in Mant tehsil is a case in point. For this academic year, it saw zero enrolments. Its principal Mukesh Kumar said there were two students in the school in the previous academic year “but they transferred to other schools”.
Another example is that of the Shri Bhagat Singh Primary School in Mathura’s Ward 15, with only nine students.
Dutt, quoted earlier, blamed the state of infrastructure in several of these schools, as well as the mushrooming of private schools in the vicinity of the villages for the low enrolment numbers.
In September 2022, part of the ceiling of a classroom at the primary school in Begumpur village, in Mathura’s Mant block, collapsed, injuring at least eight students. A month later, the ceiling of a classroom in another government primary school building, this time in Taroli in Chaumuhan block in Mathura, collapsed. While no one was injured since it was a holiday that day, the incident left the school with only three intact classrooms for its 150 students.
Dutt said he has sent letters of concern to the principals of schools with low enrolment demanding an explanation and a plan of action. “We are concentrating on rationalisation of teachers’ postings,” he told ThePrint.
Adding, “Teachers from schools with very low enrolment will be transferred to other schools with high student-teacher ratios. Standards have it that a school should have one teacher for every 30 students and we are striving to maintain this.”
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