A LONG HOLIDAY: Students of the tribal school at Thalathuthakkav

When 32 children return to their lower primary school near Vithura in Thiruvananthapuram the bells won't ring, the school building will be deserted, the teachers will be missing and there won't be any more kanji and payar served for lunch. The ruling United Democratic Front (UDF), as part of its cost-cutting measures, has decided to close down 2,650 "uneconomic" schools-993 government and the rest government-aided private schools. Of these, 105 schools had already been sent notices to hand over their keys by March 31.

According to the Kerala Education Rules, a school is considered unviable if its student strength is less than 25 per class. Unfortunately, in the state which enjoys the distinction of having the highest literacy rate in the country-89.81per cent against the national average of 52.21 per cent-the number of uneconomical schools rose from 170 in 1992 to 2,200 in 2000. "Why should the state keep spending its resources on schools where there are no students?" asks Chief Minister A.K. Antony.

For a state where education has traditionally enjoyed high priority, the decision has drawn a lot of flak. Despite the high average literacy rate, those for the SCs and STs are just 69.2 per cent and 48.6 per cent. Yet, the schools catering to them have not been spared. Says P.N. Ramani, headmistress of the 65-year-old Methotty Tribal School in Thiruvananthapuram district: "We have only 15 students in four primary classes. Now even they will be forced into illiteracy."

This does not augur well for a state where the dropout rate among sc and ST students in the 6-14 age group, according to K.K. George, director of the Centre for Socio-economic and Environmental Studies in Cochin, is even higher than in the traditionally backward states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. "Even if there is one student, the government should run the school," argues G. Appukkuttan Kani, a tribal leader and president of the Vithura panchayat. Tribal children walk for miles through forests and rivers to reach school. The Government, he says, should instead provide infrastructure-bridges across rivers, for instance-to facilitate attendance.

Babu John, convener of the State School Protection Committee, also points out the anomalies in the closure move. According to him, in Pathanamthitta district a school with more than 150 children in four classes was served notice. Similarly, 20-odd schools with just one or two students less than the required number have been asked to close down. But, despite displacing 25,000 teachers and thousands of non-teaching staff, the closure will not save the government much money immediately.

Now, with the opposition Left Democratic Front threatening a stir, the Government has retreated. "We have recommended to the Government that it halve the required strength in primary schools. There will also be a rethink on schools catering to the weaker sections," says UDF Convener Oommen Chandy. But until some of the notices are withdrawn, teachers and parents will hardly be a convinced lot.