Overview

• The Lucknow bench of Justice Pankaj Bhatia dismissed the petitions on July 7 after hearing arguments over two days beginning July 3.
• The court concluded that pairing under-enrolled schools with nearby institutions is constitutional under Article 21A and supports NEP 2020’s goals for resource sharing.
• It ordered state authorities to guarantee that no child loses access to free compulsory education by providing transportation or placing children in neighbourhood schools under the Right to Education Act.
• Under the June 16 order, nearly 29,000 government primary and upper primary schools with fewer than 50 students are slated for consolidation out of 140,000 such schools in the state.
• Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and teachers’ associations have criticized the merger, vowing to pursue appeals in the Supreme Court and organize protests over potential dropouts.