Akhilesh Yadav Slams UP Govt's School Merger Policy, Warns Of Rising Dropouts And Teacher Crisis

Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav has criticized the state government, alleging that its policy of merging government schools aims to deprive the poor and marginalized of education. Speaking to the media at the SP headquarters on Friday, Yadav contended that such mergers would particularly disadvantage children in rural areas.

Yadav highlighted that over two lakh teaching positions remain vacant in the education department, yet no recruitment is taking place. He asserted that school mergers would further halt teacher recruitment, despite ongoing protests from Shiksha Mitras and candidates from the 69,000 teacher recruitment drive who have long awaited resolution. According to Yadav, the merger of schools will inevitably lead to an increase in the dropout rate among students.

Furthermore, Yadav claimed that government teachers are facing harassment due to the implementation of a digital attendance system without adequate infrastructure.

He urged the government to address the concerns of teachers and listen to their grievances.