Madhya Pradesh Merges 35,000 Schools For Better Learning Outcomes: NITI Aayog Report

The NITI Aayog's report on Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital in Education (SATH-E) recommends the consolidation of small, sub-scale, and low-enrollment schools in the country to enhance learning outcomes. The SATH-Education project was implemented in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha, demonstrating the potential and challenges of decisive actions to improve education quality. As part of the initiative, in Madhya Pradesh, 35 thousand schools were merged into 16 thousand same-campus schools, with 55 per cent of merged schools now having a principal, compared to 20 per cent earlier.

The consolidation resulted in a decreased monitoring load of four schools per cluster officer on average, and over 600 middle schools were upgraded to secondary schools in areas with limited access, the NITI Aayog Report states.

The Dakshata Unnayan programme was launched, providing daily remediation for students in grades I-VIII. Before its pause due to Covid-19, 15-30 per cent of children were found to move across learning level groups year on year (AY 2018-19 & 2019-20). A Secondary Assessment Cell was formed, and capacity was built for a gradual shift towards competency-based assessments. Approximately eight thousand teachers were rationalized through a transparent online process, while more than 13 thousand teachers were recruited, the report further adds.

In 2018, Madhya Pradesh had around 1.2 lakh public schools, and of approximately 84,000 primary schools, around 40,000 had fewer than 40 students. Notably, 39,266 schools out of 84,553 were considered sub-scale. The state focused on consolidating same-campus schools, resulting in quick wins by reducing the school footprint by 17,000 schools.

"The 'Teaching at the Right Level' approach under Dakshata Unnayan encouraged teachers in Madhya Pradesh to tailor lessons to the actual learning levels of students, leading to a 20%-30% improvement in learning outcomes in AY 2018-2019," the report quoted Rashmi Arun Shami, principal secretary, School Education, Madhya Pradesh, as saying.

"The 'Ek Shala Ek Parisar' intervention enhanced teacher and school leader availability, improved school resources, increased attendance, and reduced dropouts," she added.

The Performance Grading Index (PGI) showed consistent improvement in all three states. From 2017 to 2021, Jharkhand moved up 4 levels, Odisha moved up two levels, and Madhya Pradesh moved up one level in PGI performance.

"The cost of such subscale schools in the form of extensive multi-grade teaching, lack of a student and parent community that can demand accountability, poor infrastructure, the same 1-2 teachers also handling all administrative responsibilities in the absence of headmasters/principals, etc., is very high," the NITI Aayog said.

"Thoughtfully executed school mergers are one path forward. This has been executed across SATH-E states with favorable results," it added.