The mergers of small primary schools with low enrolment rates with bigger ones may have saved money for the Jharkhand government, but it has wreaked havoc on the lives of children in remote areas who find it difficult to commute to their new schools.
It is a little past seven in the morning, time for children to get ready for school. But for nine-year-old Phoolmati Kumari, in Tengrapathar village of Jharkhand’s Latehar district, there is no hurry. She has only just woken up and for the rest of the day will loiter around and, maybe , help her ailing grandmother to cook. Or, as the summer approaches, she will scrounge for mahua, which fetches the only cash earning for her family.
It was not always like this for Phoolmati. Two years ago, she had joined the government primary school in her village, where she spent most of her time during the day. “I used to go to school regularly. The master never came more than once or twice a week, but we had food in the afternoon,” she said. “About seven or eight children would go to school every day.” Now the school, its dilapidated building overgrown with weeds, is closed. “The school closed down and there is nothing to do,” she said, pointing to her old school, disappointment in her voice.
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