Moral duty of the Govt to consult parent-teachers prior to closing schools

By Kusal Perera

It is now said the JVP/NPP government’s decision to close schools with less than 50 pupils noticed through circular 34/2025, and will be implemented this 2026 year, resulting in the shutting down 1,506 schools. Closing of schools with little numbers of pupils has been a topic for some years. There were schools closed in the past, with little notice. Often it was simply said they ‘wound up’.

Here is the reason why I want government authorities to speak to parent-teachers, before deciding to close down schools. According to “Annual School Census Reports” of the Ministry of Education, a decade ago in 2015, there were 10,144 schools in all. That number had increased to 10,155 by year 2020. Also, the number of schools with less than 50 pupils had decreased to 1,439 from 1,515. It’s a decrease of 76 schools within five years. Added is the fact, number of schools with less than 10 teachers in the staff had also decreased from 3,113 to 3,044 during the same five-year period.

That certainly was the trend in formal school education during the five years from 2015 to 2020. The total number of schools increased while number of schools with less than 50 pupils decreased along with schools having less than 10 teachers. This definitely was a positive factor, despite all other defects, degenerations and disruptions in school education.

There perhaps wasn’t time to complete a school census for year 2025 in whole, that closed in December, a few weeks ago. Thus, focus on the 2024 school census report reveals, the number of schools had reduced from 10,155 to 10,047 during that period of four years. That was a decrease of 108 schools. Were they closed, or had they also just “wound up”? From these remaining 10,047 schools, how did the number of schools with less than 50 pupils increase to 1,645? When the total number of schools decrease by 108, how did the number of schools with less than 10 teachers increase to 3,065 by 21 schools? These are issues that should be investigated into.

In such a scenario, there should be serious factors impacting on education to improve its status during the five years from 2015 to 2020 and then to disrupt and dissolve its gains during the next four years. Thus, it is wholly unjust, oppressive, undemocratic and also illogical and unprincipled though easy for officials in the education ministry and the government to shut down schools with less than 50 pupils, in a national education system bound to ensure the right to education of all children.

It is important to find out where these 1,506 schools with less than 50 pupils, identified to be closed down on circular 34/2025 are located, as decided by this JVP/NPP government. A vast majority of them are apparently outside urban areas. In the Colombo education zone, out of 122, only two schools have less than 50 pupils in their registers. In the two education zones Homagama and Piliyandala, out of the total 184 schools, each have only 11 schools with less than 50 pupils. Majority of them are in Pradeshiya Sabha areas. Sri Jayawardenepura has six out of 85 schools.

Outside the Western Province, in the Central Province, 31 schools out of 96 in the Theldeniya education zone will have to be closed down according to circular 34/2025. In Wilgamuwa, 15 out of 45 schools will have to be shut. In Walapane it is 29 out of 89 schools. In the two districts in Uva Province, out of a total of 892 schools, 172 will have to be closed, having less than 50 pupils in each. In the Mannar district, 40 schools out of 132 will have to be closed while in Thunnukai education zone in Mullaitivu, 25 schools out of 58 will have to be closed. In the three education zones in Kegalle district, 120 schools with less than 50 pupils in each will have to be closed. That’s out of a total 498 schools. In such remote, rural areas, an average of 20 to 25 percent of the schools will have to face the full blade of the axe.    

There are three serious issues tied to this decision on closing schools, the government and the education ministry officials will have to pay attention to. (1) How many children in the locality of the school to be shut down go to other schools and why? (2) Why does a small fraction of the children in the area still attend the school to be shut down? and then (3) Will there be a substantial number of children attending schools outside their locality, returning to the school to be closed down, if that school is adequately improved?

As far as I am aware, there is no official survey and estimation in understanding that negative development. There is therefore no moral right for the government to decide on closing schools on recommendations of education ministry officials who have not even investigated the matter with responsibility. There is also no urgency at this moment in closing these schools.

I therefore propose to the government to (i) immediately withdraw the circular 34/2025 and stop closing down schools (ii) initiate a discussion with principals and teachers of these schools, parents of pupils in the school and also with other parents in the locality (iii) initiate discussion with the relevant elected local government body of the area, all within the next three months and provide a comprehensive report on discussions held, with observations and recommendations for scrutiny and also request the local government body to adopt a resolution on their contribution(s) in positively  resolving the issue.  

I firmly believe it is necessary to insist on “democratising the problem solving process” to gain consensus of parents and teachers, especially where right to education of children whose schools are identified for permanent closure and thus request social and teacher union activists to call for such democratisation in this instance.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the official position of this publication.