Nagpur: The number of students enrolled in Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) schools is rapidly declining. Under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the civic body shared this information with activist Abhay Kolarkar.
NMC has closed approximately 38 schools to date due to a lack of parental response. According to the RTI response, there are 157 NMC schools in the 2019-20 school year; the following year, the number was reduced to 131.
Enrollment in primary and secondary schools fell to 7,141 in 2020-21 and 5,523 in 2021-22. The number of teachers has also decreased, falling from 847 in 2019-20 to 698 at the end of the 2021-22 school year. NMC’s expenditure for fiscal year 2021-22 has risen to more than Rs 2.03 crore, up from Rs 2.52 in the previous fiscal year.
The NMC Education Department blamed the decrease in the number of students enrolled in Marathi medium education at most NMC schools on the fact that parents from lower-income families prefer English medium schools. According to reports, the NMC has converted six marathi medium schools in different assembly constituencies into English medium schools for the 2021-22 academic year.
