Lucknow: What began as an administrative exercise to merge under-enrolled schools in Uttar Pradesh has snowballed into a veritable political flashpoint, sparking protests, poster wars, FIRs and heated exchanges in the state’s Assembly.
The “school pairing” policy announced in June by the Adityanath government, seeks to merge more than 10,000 primary and upper primary schools with fewer than 50 students into nearby institutions, usually within the one-kilometre radius.
Officials say the move will strengthen infrastructure, ensure adequate teacher strength and provide larger peer groups for students, but the Opposition brands it “a disguised closure” of government schools that will push marginalised and rural children out of the education system. Over the past six weeks, the issue has refused to fade, surviving courtroom scrutiny, a government clarification blitz, multiple street protests, FIRs against political workers and poster wars.
The issue flagged by opposition in the recently concluded session of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly also led to heated discussions, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stoutly defending the decision.
The policy followed a sharp decline in government school enrolments after the COVID pandemic. In 2022-23, enrolments stood at 1.92 crore, but have since dropped to just more than one crore in the current academic session.
Additional Chief Secretary (Basic Education) Deepak Kumar said the move follows models in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat and is in line with the National Education Policy 2020.
The policy also faced legal challenges but the Allahabad High Court dismissed the pleas, ruling that the Act allows flexibility and has no evidence of rights violations.
While the government won in court, it continues to battle political barbs.
Opposition campaign against the move spearheaded by Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has found support from nearly all opposition, including Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Yadav has branded the move a “deep-rooted conspiracy” to deprive PDA (Backward classes, Dalits, and minorities) of education and, by extension, their political voice.
“What kind of Ram Rajya is this? Close the schools, open the liquor shops,” read an SP poster in Lucknow.
Samajwadi Party Workers Launch “PDA Pathshalas”
In rural areas, SP workers have launched “PDA Pathshalas” — informal teaching centres for children whose schools have been merged. Some of these centres featured “politicised alphabets” such as “A for Akhilesh” and “M for Mulayam Singh Yadav,” prompting the government to accuse the party of misusing children for propaganda. FIRs have been filed against SP leaders in Saharanpur, Varanasi, Mau, Prayagraj, and Lucknow for running these “unauthorised” classes.
The SP calls this harassment, while the government insists it is necessary to protect children’s education from politicisation. The AAP too has joined the fray, with Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh launching a “school bachao” campaign under the slogan “Madhushala nahi, pathshala chahiye (Not liquor shops, we want schools).” “We are holding protest rallies in several districts against the move. Locals who have been affected are also joining us and we will continue to raise the issue in the coming days to ensure these people get justice,” Singh told PTI adding that the party will make it an issue in upcoming Panchayat polls.
The BJP countered the allegations by putting up posters in Lucknow on the first day of the Assembly session, targeting SP’s “PDA Pathshala” campaign.
Sponsored by BJP MLC and state general secretary Subhash Yaduvansh, the posters claimed to expose the “dark truth” of the initiative, alleging that SP’s PDA Pathshalas were teaching “A for Akhilesh and D for Dimple.” The BJP has sought an apology from the SP chief, asking which parent in the state would want their child to be taught such a curriculum.
Under growing pressure, the state’s Basic Education Minister Sandeep Singh and other BJP leaders rolled out pressers and clarifications, insisting that no school is being permanently shut and that mergers only apply to institutions with less than 50 students.
“If a merger creates commuting difficulties, it can be reversed. Vacated buildings will be converted into Bal Vatikas (pre-primary schools) by August 15. No teacher posts will be abolished; new appointments will be made if needed to maintain the pupil-teacher ratio,” Singh clarified in a press conference.
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath Wades Into The Debate
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also waded into the debate in the Assembly, dismissing the “closure” charge and framing the policy as part of a broader education modernisation drive.
“Before 2017, government schools lacked basic infrastructure, and dropout rates were among the highest in the country,” he said.
“Today, we are integrating campuses to maintain a 22:1 student-teacher ratio and provide better facilities. This is strengthening education, not weakening it,” he asserted.
The chief minister further announced the rollout of LKG, UKG, and nursery classes in government schools, alongside a Rs 100 crore nutrition mission for malnourished children.
The policy dominated proceedings in the Monsoon Session, with SP legislators accusing the government of reducing educational access instead of expanding it.
Leader of Opposition Mata Prasad Pandey alleged that 29,000 schools had been merged and 10,000 closed, claiming this was a deliberate attempt to deprive the poor of education.
SP MLAs also linked the issue to broader accusations that the BJP is neglecting job creation and rural development, with Adityanath countering it by accusing the SP of running a “copying mafia” during its tenure and ignoring infrastructure needs.
Mixed reactions are seen in villages with some parents seeing the potential benefits of better facilities and larger peer groups while others worry about safety and dropout risks when children have to travel two or three kilometres to school.
Teachers, especially in villages, warn that the distance will weaken their ability to encourage attendance through personal outreach.
“Once schools are far away, that connection is lost,” a teacher from teacher told PTI, saying that he fears that many children will simply drop out.
Education access remains a politically potent theme, particularly among rural and marginalised voters. For the Samajwadi Party, framing the policy as an attack on PDA communities ties directly into its core electoral pitch. The pairing exercise is happening simultaneously in thousands of villages, creating repeated local flashpoints.
With panchayat and Assembly elections still ahead, the Opposition appears determined to keep the issue simmering. The SP’s PDA Pathshala campaign continues despite police action, while the BJP is using the Assembly and government briefings to project the move as progressive and in line with national education reforms.
The government plans to complete the pairing process within weeks and whether that will quiet the political noise, however, remains uncertain.