The Assam Government has come under sharp criticism after issuing an order to merge 91 primary and ME schools across the state under the “Shiksha Khetra” restructuring scheme. The decision, which was notified by the Directorate of Elementary Education, has triggered concern among parents, teachers and local communities, who fear that this move will directly affect poor and rural students.
The order lists district-wise details of the schools that have now been merged into nearby base schools. The highest number of mergers have taken place in Kamrup (Rural), Lakhimpur and Sivasagar, where 10 schools each have been absorbed. Majuli has lost 7 schools, while Barpeta has seen 6 schools merged. In Cachar and Hailakandi, 5 schools each have been affected. Even remote and backward areas like Shribhumi have not been spared, with 4 schools merged there.
Smaller but still significant numbers of schools have also been merged in Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Golaghat, Jorhat, Nagaon and Nalbari, where 3 schools each have been removed as independent institutions. Districts such as Biswanath, Bongaigaon and Sonitpur have seen 2 schools each merged. Even in places like Charaideo, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Kamrup-Metro, Morigaon and Tinsukia, one school each has been affected. 
Many of the merged schools are located in rural belts, tea garden areas and flood-prone zones, where children already struggle to reach classrooms. Now, with their neighbourhood schools gone, students may have to travel longer distances for basic education.
Teachers are also unhappy. Although the government has promised that salaries and posts will be protected, staff fear future uncertainty. The move looks more like cost-cutting than development, and accuse the government of slowly shrinking public education instead of strengthening it.
The state government, however, claims that the restructuring is meant to “improve management and efficiency.” But for thousands of families, the decision simply means one thing, another door to education quietly closed.
With the merger now in force, many parents and citizens have a simple basic question: if the government truly wants to promote education, why are government schools disappearing from villages instead of improving?
