GUWAHATI: The Indian Railways have started the process of closing down six railway schools in Assam. Several railway schools in many states are to be closed down in a phased manner due to the non-availability of teachers and the presence of limited students.
The schools to be closed in Assam are Adabari Rly DTP School, Pandu Rly Primary School, Amingaon Rly Primary School, Mariani Rly Primary School, Dibrugarh Rly DTP School, and Tinsukia Rly Primary School.
Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO) of Northeast Frontier (NF) Railway Sabyasachi De told G Plus that the Railways have decided to close the schools as they had been functioning with only a few students and teachers in each class.
"The concept of railway schools was to provide good education to the children of employees deployed in far-fetched locations where there were no proper educational institutions. Now, there are good schools everywhere and only a few students are admitted to these primary schools," he said.
The aforementioned schools will not be closed down immediately, however, the Railways have asked them to take no new admission 2022-2023 academic session.
"We will ask the State Government or Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) to take over the schools or deemed fit. If not taken over, the schools will continue to function till the last student passes out or is shifted to another school, in which case the Railways will bear the responsibility," the CPRO said.
He added that any student who wishes to shift to any other school now will also be facilitated by the NF Railway.
There are a total of eight such schools under the NF Railway. The remaining two are Dimapur Railway High School in Nagaland and Barsoi Rly DTP School in Bihar.