India, Aug. 4 -- In June, the Uttar Pradesh government decided to merge some government schools in the state. The move triggered criticism from the opposition and also challenges intuitive reasoning. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India and its population is still rising, given the fact that its total fertility rate (TFR) is still more than the replacement level of 2.1 and the second highest in the country after Bihar's. TFR is the the average number of children a woman is expected to have and when it goes below 2.1 it entails a fall in population levels. Without prejudice to Uttar Pradesh's decision of closing schools - government schools are mostly understaffed and under-resourced in India and children might have to travel ...