Rise in enrolment in govt schools proof of 'School Chalo' success: UP CM

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the number of students enrolled in state-run schools has risen from 1.34 crore in 2017 to 1.92 crore in 2023, proving that his govt's 'School Chalo' campaign

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said the number of students enrolled in state-run schools has risen from 1.34 crore in 2017 to 1.92 crore in 2023, proving that his government's 'School Chalo' campaign is a success.

The Adityanath government has been launching the month-long campaign every year since 2017 around the start of the new academic session with an aim to ensure 100 per cent enrolment in primary and upper primary schools in the state.

Exhorting parents to send their children to school to achieve 100 percent literacy rate, Adityanath said his government has improved education infrastructure and claimed that before the BJP came to power in 2017, schools in the state lacked basic amenities.

"It is our responsibility to ensure that not a single child is deprived of school learning and no child falls prey to a communicable disease," the chief minister said while launching this year's edition of the campaign.

Adityanath also launched a campaign against communicable diseases.

"Parents must be prepared to send their children to school as the state can achieve 100 percent literacy only when every child goes to school," he said.

Uttar Pradesh is a centre of knowledge, science, and spirituality. However, there was a time when the state was infamous for anarchy, hooliganism, riots, corruption, and disorder, he said.

"The actions taken by the BJP government over the last six years are now showing results in every field," he said.

"On July 1, 2017, we launched the 'School Chalo' campaign in Kukrail and it was a complete success. In July 2017, there were 1.34 crore children enrolled in schools and as of today, there are 1.92 crore children in schools. This shows that the programme has progressed successfully within the state," he added.

Before 2017, Yogi said, schools lacked basic amenities and the students had no uniforms and shoes.

"Our government made the decision to provide each child with two uniforms, bags, books, shoes, and socks. Under Operation Kayakalp, public representatives, Education department officials, administrative officers, police officers, and alumni adopted one school each," he said.

"I am happy to report that as part of Operation Kayakalp, we have covered 1.36 lakh schools out of a total of 1.56 lakh and provided them with basic amenities as well as smart classes and other facilities, he said.

The chief minister said work is underway to cover the remaining 20,000 schools.

"You can estimate the changes in the education sector by the fact that we have appointed 1.60 lakh teachers in basic and secondary education alone. This demonstrates that there weren't many teachers present earlier, he said.

He also recommended the examination of the population of village panchayats and their different social and economic backgrounds through the creation of a database with details like the number of children in a family and how many of them are enrolled in schools.

"If possible, the Basic Education Council should prepare a portal for this and take data from each school," he said.