'Implement Justice Sudhir Agarwal’s order, ensure government employees’ children study in government schools'

By A Representative 

Civil rights activist and Magsaysay awardee Sandeep Pandey has strongly urged the Uttar Pradesh government to implement the 2015 judgment of Justice Sudhir Agarwal, which mandates that children of all government-salaried employees and beneficiaries of public funds must compulsorily study in government schools. Pandey argued that if this order is enforced, the quality of government schools would improve substantially, and public confidence in the system would be restored.

He cited the case of a government school in Narapanenipalle village of Telangana’s Khammam district, where only one student, Keerthana, is taught by a single teacher, Uma Parvati. Despite the extremely low enrollment, the Telangana government reportedly spends ₹12 lakh annually on the school. “When it comes to a child's fundamental right to education under Article 21A of the Constitution, we cannot judge the system based on cost alone,” Pandey said.

Pandey, who is general secretary of the Socialist Party (India), expressed grave concern over the Uttar Pradesh government’s ongoing policy of merging and closing government schools with fewer than 50 students. Such decisions, he said, are a direct violation of the constitutional right to education. Government norms stipulate that primary school children should not have to travel more than one kilometre to attend school. After such consolidations, many children will be forced to travel greater distances, pushing parents to consider private schools instead. “This is nothing short of backdoor privatization of education,” he warned.

Between 2014-15 and 2023-24, over 25,000 government schools have already been shut across India. Now, estimates suggest that 10,000 to 27,000 more may be closed under this consolidation policy. Pandey questioned the scale and unilateral nature of these decisions, especially as they are being implemented without any legislative debate or public consultation.

At the same time, he pointed to the state’s seemingly contradictory priorities—while schools are being closed down, the government is liberal in allowing new liquor shops to open. In Aseni village of Barabanki district, a 2021 resolution by the gram panchayat demanding the closure of a liquor shop has still not been acted upon, while local schools face the threat of closure without community input.

Pandey also highlighted the case of Bareilly schoolteacher Rajneesh Gangwar, who faced police action after reciting a poem urging youth to spread knowledge instead of blindly following rituals. “When a teacher says ‘don’t carry kanwars, light the lamp of knowledge’, he is punished. What kind of youth does the government want—uneducated and intoxicated?” Pandey asked. He further questioned how many children of BJP leaders, MPs or MLAs actually participate in Kanwar Yatras.

He concluded by reiterating that public schools must be protected and revitalized to ensure every child receives quality education, as guaranteed by the Constitution. “If government employees are required to send their children to government schools, there will be an automatic push to improve their condition. That’s the only way to ensure no school is shut down again,” Pandey asserted.