8 primary schools slapped with closure notices

Following inspections in the schools,the District Education Officer on Monday evening sent out closure notices to the schools. During the inspection,it was found that the classes from Standard I to VII lacked the required number of students.

The schools which have been served with the closure notices include Rupak Prathmik School- Baranpura,Janta Prathmik School –Fatehpura,Pragati Prathmik School –Baranpura,Saraswati Prathmik School- Panigate,Unnati Prathmik School –Panigate,Harikrushna Prathmik School –Waghodiya,Sanskar Vikas Prathmik School- Pratapnagar,Mavankar Prathmik School – Wadi.

As per education department guidelines,the minimum required classroom strength for Standards I to IV is 40 students and for Standards V to VII it is 25 students. Besides not having adequate number of students,it was also found that the teachers of these schools were not paid adequate payment either.

“These schools were given repeated warnings during the past two years and were also asked to answer the primary education board over the matter. But they did not pay heed to the notice,” said R K Patel,DEO,Vadodara.

Over 625 students studying in these closed down schools have been shifted to the nearby schools. Last year,six schools were sent closure notices for similar reasons and now with eight more schools closed down,only 64 primary schools are left functional in the district.