U.P. school merger: Is pairing the same as shutdown?

For Sachin, 8, the last few months were full of difficulty. His parents protested against the school merger, submitted a memorandum to the authorities asking to reopen his school. Finally, though the decision to merge schools has not been rolled back in its entirety, some school’s were reopened after protests. A relief for Sachin.

Residing in Sahpurva village under Bakshi Ka Talab (BKT) block in Lucknow district, Sachin’s primary school was closed in July during the merger exercise. Virendra, 24, from Sahpurva, whose nephew is also enrolled in the same school, said, “We protested and forced the reopening of the school; the road towards the proposed new school passes through sugarcane fields where jackals are in high numbers; we can’t see our children suffer.”

The story of Sachin is not a