India, July 21 -- A Crisis Brewing in Rural Education On July 1, 2025, Swami Prasad Maurya, former minister and current chief of the Apni Janata Party (AJP), raised serious concerns about the future of public education in rural India. Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, he denounced the recent decision of the Uttar Pradesh government to merge primary and upper primary schools with fewer than 50 students. Far from being a mere administrative step, Maurya warned, this decision is a calculated move that may accelerate the erosion of educational access for Dalits, tribals, minorities, and economically poor children.

The policy of merging low-enrollment schools is one of the many initiatives under the broader National Education Policy (...