No decision has been taken to close schools with a low pass percentage – an explanation from the school education department.
Mumbai: Under the Central Government sponsored Samagra Shiksha Yojana, for the convenience of students in the slums where the school is not available within a distance of 1 or 3 km, they are being provided transportation facility or transport allowance to go to the nearest school. The centre sponsored scheme has been running for some years now and accordingly students are given transport allowance every year. However, no school has been closed so far due to the payment of transport allowance, said Additional Chief Secretary of the Education Department, Smt. Vandana Krishna.
It has been reported in some media on 15.12.2021 that the state government will close 3037 schools with a low pass percentage. This news is completely wrong. No decision has been taken to close any school with a low pass percentage, said Mrs Krishna.
As per the Government Resolution dated 24.03.2021, as there are no schools available in 3073 slums in the state, the students in those slums have been declared eligible for the benefit of this scheme. The distance of schools from some of the settlements was mentioned incorrectly in the ruling, which has been amended by the Government Corrigendum dated 09.12.2021 and the actual distance has been shown.
This scheme is helping the students to reach their school. This decision is not intended to close any school with a low pass percentage. This Government Resolution has been issued to implement the plan of the Central Government. It is mentioned in the press release issued by Mrs Krishna that a similar ruling is being issued every year.
