The Tripura Government led by Chief Minister Manik Sahha has launched an initiative to identify and potentially merge schools with fewer than 50 students into nearby institutes with higher enrolment numbers, a move aimed at optimising resources and improving educational outcomes.
Kaliprasad Chakma, Officer on Special Duty in the Education department, explained that this exercise follows a directive from the Centre and aims to enhance the student-teacher ratio across government schools. District education officers have been tasked with identifying around 800 junior and senior basic schools with low enrolment.
“We are focusing on rationalising resources and ensuring better educational facilities by potentially merging these smaller schools with others within a 1 km to 1.5 km radius,” Chakma stated.
The department plans to complete this assessment by the end of June and will then seek feedback from school management committees and local bodies. The final decision on mergers will be based on comprehensive reports and consultations with stakeholders.
Chakma highlighted the imbalance in teacher deployment, noting instances where schools with minimal student populations have excess teaching staff, while others face shortages.
