Besieged with sharp criticism by the leaders of opposition parties, the Uttar Pradesh government, on Monday, denied the news of closure of over 27,000 primary schools in the state.

State Director General of Basic Education Kanchan Verma said that reports in the media that over 27,000 schools in the state will be closed are totally baseless and misleading. She claimed that no such process is underway.

Issuing a statement issued here on Monday, Verma said that media reports of closure of over 27,000 primary schools by merging them with nearby schools were absolutely misleading and baseless and not a single school was being closed in the state.

She said that the Primary Education department of the state was making continuous efforts to develop human resources and infrastructure in schools, improve the quality of education and reduce the dropout rate of students, especially girls. From this point of view, various studies are conducted from time to time; our aim is to further improve the quality of education, she added.

Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in her statement on Monday criticised the UP government for closing of 27,764 primary and junior schools in the state.

“This step is against the education sector as well as the children of Dalit, backward, poor and deprived sections. The United Progressive Alliance government had brought the Right to Education Act, under which arrangements were made that there should be a primary school within every kilometre radius so that school is accessible to children of every section. The objective of welfare policies and schemes is not to earn profits but to provide welfare to the public. The Bharatiya Janata Party does not want education to be accessible to children from weaker sections,” she alleged.

On the other hand, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said that the decision of the state government to close 27,764 primary and upper primary schools with less than 50 students was not appropriate. “In such a situation, where and how will poor children study? Instead of merging them with other schools, the state government should take measures to improve them by making necessary improvements,” she said.