Himachal Pradesh: 177 Schools Lack Buildings, 1,526 Closed In 3 Years

Himachal Pradesh has 177 government schools running without buildings of their own. Students are attending classes in rest houses, community centres, Panchayat buildings and private premises.

Education Minister Rohit Thakur told the state Assembly on Thursday that 1,526 schools had been closed in the state over the past three years. He gave the figures in response to a question from BJP MLA Inder Dutt Lakhanpal on the final day of the monsoon session.

The numbers show two problems at once - a long list of school closures and a shortage of permanent space for schools still in use.

Where Students Study?

The schools without their own buildings are operating from other government schools, private structures, rest houses, community centres, Mahila Mandal halls and Panchayat buildings.

Twelve of these schools were declared unsafe after natural disasters, Thakur said. One example is the Government Senior Secondary School at Kunra in Chamba district, whose original building was declared unsafe after a disaster.

The school shifted to a Public Works Department rest house. It now runs from four rooms there and has 99 students. The government has started acquiring land for a new building, but there is no fixed deadline for completion.

Construction Delay

Construction is under way for 28 school buildings, while funds have been released for 14 others, according to the government.

Work on the rest has not moved ahead because land is either unavailable or acquisition is still pending. In many places, land availability has proved to be the bigger hurdle.

Closed Schools Reused

Of the 1,526 schools closed over the past three years, the Education Department owns the buildings of 1,473.

Thakur said 577 of those buildings have been handed over, as required, to other departments or community bodies. They are now being used for Panchayati Raj, Mahila Mandals, Yuvak Mandals, Anganwadi centres, health and AYUSH services, animal husbandry, environment-related work and temple committees.

The remaining 53 closed schools had earlier operated from private or rented premises, so the department has no government building attached to them. Even with many closures finding new uses, 177 schools in the state still do not have permanent premises.