VISAKHAPATNAM: The Andhra Pradesh government is gearing up to merge Classes III to V from primary schools with high schools across the state after Dasara vacations.
According to sources in the state education department, as many as 3,627 primary schools have been identified to be merged with 3,178 high schools, which are within 250 meters radius of the respective primary schools.
The communication was unofficially shared among teachers’ unions under the umbrella of the Federation of AP Teachers’ Organisation (FAPTO) at a meeting with the school education officials recently and is yet to reach the heads of the schools concerned, said United Teachers Forum state general secretary Prabhakar Varma.
Speaking to this newspaper, Varma said, “The government announced Dasara vacations for schools from October 9 to 17. We hope that the process will take place after the vacation. The government waited till September end to see admissions.”
Varma further said the FAPTO met school education commissioner Chinaveerabhadrudu to discuss various issues on behalf of ten teachers’ unions, and the issue of merger of primary schools with high schools also came for discussion.
The sources further said the government would not merge primary schools in case the nearest high schools concerned were facing a shortage of buildings. It came to the notice of officials that there are schools with less than 10 students in many areas in 13 districts. In some schools, the government noticed that teachers were more in number than the students.
“The government is taking up the procedure as per the national guidelines under the New Education Policy 2020. We have not been communicated about the merger from Dasara so far,” said the DEO of a coastal district.
The government is also planning to construct additional classrooms for high schools under the Nadu-Nedu programme wherever required. The government made the move of merging the schools in order to provide quality education to students in a better environment with all facilities like playgrounds, greenery, computers system, recreation facilities, toilet, and drinking water apart from all kinds of sports and games which are generally available at high schools.
