Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday accused the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government of weakening the state’s education system by shutting nearly 22,000 primary schools in the name of mergers, alleging that the move had deprived children from disadvantaged communities of access to quality education.
Speaking during the debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha, Yadav claimed that both the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government had failed to bring meaningful reforms to the education sector despite repeatedly promising improvements.
He alleged that the closure of thousands of schools had adversely affected students, particularly those from rural and economically weaker sections, making education less accessible.
Responding to the allegations, Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Minister Sandeep Singh dismissed the claims as “baseless.” He asserted that no government primary school had been closed and clarified that only schools with very low student enrolment had been merged with nearby institutions to improve the efficiency of the education system.
The exchange highlighted the sharp political divide over education policies in Uttar Pradesh, with the Opposition accusing the government of undermining public education, while the state government defended the school merger policy as an administrative reform aimed at better resource utilisation.
