Sikkim is planning to close down 17 more primary schools for this academic year only, following the trend of last year when 38 similar schools were closed. Education Secretary Tashi Chophel Lepcha, during a talk at the state-level education conference in Gangtok, said that the sharp decline in child population is the main reason.
The state has the lowest Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in India at 1.0, which is about half the national replacement level. This means that every year fewer, children are being enrolled in schools, which is causing classrooms to be almost empty and thus making it very difficult to justify the allocation of teachers and overall maintenance of schools.
The officials raised another issue: frequent and unpredictable transfer of teachers is worsening the situation by affecting the continuity in schools that are already suffering from a lack of staff. A formal Transfer Policy Act has been proposed to bring consistency to postings.
On a forward-looking note, the government announced plans for a Chief Minister’s Model School in Dzongu, with further campuses proposed for Namchi and Soreng as part of a broader quality push.
