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‘Pathshala Pukare’: SP turns UP school mergers into Teachers’ Day political flashpoint
According to directives issued by SP state president Shyam Lal Pal on August 31, party workers led by the Chhatra Sabha and Shikshak Sabha will hold Teachers’ Day celebrations near the sites of the alleged closures. The campaign has already begun in places such as Mohankoli village in Siddharthnagar’s Shohratgarh constituency, where study kits were distributed to children whose local schools no longer function.
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With schools emerging as a political talking point, the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh is using Teachers’ Day to sharpen its attack over what it alleges are the closures of 26,000 primary and junior high schools by the BJP government over the past decade in the name of mergers.
The party has directed its cadres to gather outside these campuses under the banner of ‘Pathshala Pukare’. The programme aims to turn the occasion meant to honour teachers into a visible campaign highlighting what the Opposition terms a “decade-long assault on rural education.”
The move comes amid a wider focus on government school infrastructure and facilities and the “School Thik Karo” campaign, a grassroots civic initiative launched by Abhijeet Dipke, the national convenor and founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
According to directives issued by SP state president Shyam Lal Pal on August 31, party workers led by the Chhatra Sabha and Shikshak Sabha will hold Teachers’ Day celebrations near the sites of the alleged closures. The campaign has already begun in places such as Mohankoli village in Siddharthnagar’s Shohratgarh constituency, where study kits were distributed to children whose local schools no longer function.
SP Shikshak Sabha vice-president Marinder Mishra said the initiative followed instructions from party president Akhilesh Yadav to keep the focus on children’s education in villages affected by the closures.
“We will celebrate Teachers’ Day on September 5 outside these schools to remind everyone that education cannot be sacrificed,” he said.
Chhatra Sabha chief Imran Idris accused the government of indifference. “Many children have simply stopped going to school because their nearby school was shut in the name of merger and the alternative is too far. Our duty is to wake up this sleeping government and ensure kids stay connected to learning,” he said.
Former chief minister and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has repeatedly said that reopening these schools will be his government’s first priority if the party returns to power in 2027. He has argued that the move will restore access to education for rural children, particularly those from disadvantaged communities who rely heavily on government schools.
The Uttar Pradesh government, however, has rejected the charge of mass closures. Basic education minister Sandeep Singh has stated on multiple occasions that the state has not decided to close a single school. He has said institutions with fewer than 50 students are being paired or merged with nearby schools within a one-kilometre radius to improve teaching quality, encourage better peer interaction and make fuller use of teachers and resources.
Singh has also maintained that no teacher or staff posts are being abolished, UDISE codes remain unchanged and schools can resume operations in their original buildings if enrolment increases. According to him, vacant campuses are being converted into Bal Vatikas for pre-primary education.
The contrasting narratives have turned Teachers’ Day into a political flashpoint. For the SP, the school buildings represent broken promises and lost opportunities for village children who may have to travel longer distances or drop out. For the ruling dispensation, the mergers are a practical reform aimed at improving learning outcomes by consolidating under-enrolled schools and resources.
As SP workers prepare to gather outside the campuses on September 5, the symbolism is clear: while Teachers’ Day is being observed inside classrooms across the country, the Opposition in Uttar Pradesh plans to mark it outside buildings it says no longer house functioning schools.
