Bhubaneswar: Several schools in Odisha were either permanently closed or were merged with others by the previous government. However, such schools will reopen based on necessity and an official report on the ground reality, School & Mass Education (S&ME) Minister Nityananda Gond said today.

“A number of primary schools were either closed or merged in tribal and remote areas based on faulty reports. As a result, children are walking long distances to go to school every day. There is a long-standing demand by locals for reopening them. We will certainly reopen such schools which will be eligible for the purpose based on Departmental report,” the Minister said mediapersons.

“I have already asked the S&ME Secretary to submit a report and a final call will be taken based on the ground report. We will consider the probable number of students, distances of nearest schools, and local demand. This will help benefit the children to get elementary education,” the Minister stated.

“5T had nothing to do with the development of infrastructure in Odisha schools. Rather it was meant to provide sources of earning by the previous government to their party workers. I visited many primary schools and found that the quality of work is of utterly sub-standard,” the Minister expressed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the previous government had issued a notification on March 11, 2020, for the merger of nearly 16,000 schools, and subsequently, around 4,500 schools were merged. After a single-judge bench quashed the notification on May 4, 2021, the Government appealed against it.