LUCKNOW, Aug. 13 -- Basic education minister Sandeep Singh on Tuesday accused opposition parties of politicising issues such as enrolment, teacher recruitment, school mergers and admission age reforms to mislead the public. Citing data in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly, he said the government has taken "historic steps" to raise education standards. Singh informed the House that 1,04,93,389 children are currently enrolled in primary schools, which have 3,38,590 teachers and 1,43,450 Shiksha Mitras. The prescribed student-teacher ratio is 30:1 in primary schools and 35:1 in upper primary schools. At the upper primary level, there are 43,01,483 students, 1,20,860 teachers and 25,223 instructors. Overall, council schools have around 1.48 crore students and more than 6.28 lakh teachers, Shiksha Mitras and instructors, he said. Singh clarified that after school pairing, institutions with up to 50 students will have two teachers and one Shiksha Mitra each. The student-teacher ratio remains balanced and measures to maintain it are ongoing, he added. Rejecting allegations of school closures, the minister affirmed that not a single school has been shut, and all council schools continue to operate under the basic education department....