311 schools lying non-operational in Arunachal: Edu minister

As many as 311 schools are lying non-operational in Arunachal Pradesh due to zero enrolment, education minister Taba Tedir told the Assembly on Thursday.

Tedir, in a written reply to senior Congress member Nabam Tuki, also said most of these defunct schools are located in remote areas of the state and attributed lack of infrastructure and mass migration to urban areas as reasons for zero enrolment.

Altogether, there are 1300 primary schools, over 300 middle-level schools, 68 higher-secondary schools and 103 high schools in Arunachal Pradesh, he said, referring to a report by Unified District Information on School Education (U-DISE).

The minister also stated that the state government had been providing stipend to students of primary and upper- primary schools, as per its policy.

Last year, Tedir had said that his department would shutdown the defunct schools, and focus on strengthening the facilities in the ones that were currently up and running.

He had also said that the assets from these non- functional schools would be utilized for other purposes.