Santanu Basu
Santanu Basu is Former Professor of Political Science, Chanchal College, Malda
Connect: santanub12@rediffmail.com
With the academic session of 2026, the West Bengal government has moved further ahead with its long-announced restructuring of upper primary education by formally detaching Class V from upper primary sections of higher secondary schools and attaching it to government primary schools, subject to teacher strength and infrastructure in line with the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009. At the initial stage , state government vaunted that only adequate infrastructure shall shall help in such detachment , but the policy is betrayed at the ground level.
This policy, first implemented during 2018–19, aims to realign Class V with the primary stage, making it the natural successor to Class IV. While the intent conforms to the RTE framework and practices in several other states, its execution in West Bengal exposes deep structural weaknesses and administrative contradictions that threaten to derail primary education altogether. It is thought that if the students are rendered sound grooming opportunity upto class V at the same school , they may cope the new higher secondary schools’ peers at ease.
Scale of the Restructuring
The West Bengal Primary School Council has so far identified 2,338 primary schools for the addition of Class V. Concurrently, upper primary schools with enrolments below 200 students and acute teacher shortages have sought departmental clearance to wind up Class V from 2025. In such cases, Class V is to be merged with nearby primary schools originally catering to Classes I–IV, of course with the rider of adequate infrastructure — a move that may increase the number of vacant teaching posts in upper primary institutions.
From 2019 onwards, the process of merging Class V into primary schools began across districts. According to State government data mergers have taken place in Kolkata (52 schools), Birbhum (119), Cooch Behar (25), South Dinajpur (17), North Dinajpur (79), Hooghly (108), Howrah (145), Jalpaiguri (27), Malda (229), Murshidabad (467), Nadia (140), North 24 Parganas (198), South 24 Parganas (324), West Midnapore (65), East Midnapore (61), East Burdwan (83), West Burdwan (87), and Purulia (24). Be such listed or non listed school , in infrastructural crisis point all schools are all alike. Government’s identification of better infrastructure is the reason of conferring class V is again vague and inflated as the ‘dhurandhar’ teachers have manipulated and manoeuvred Utshshree portal for getting transfer in particular schools at the costs of depreciated and emaciated schools.
In 2023, as many as 17,996 primary schools were upgraded to include Class V. In 2025, another 2,336 schools received approval. Altogether, slightly more than 20,000 government primary schools have been upgraded to accommodate Class V from the current academic session.
Infrastructure and Staffing: The Core Crisis
Despite the impressive numbers announced with much fanfare, the viability of this programme remains highly questionable like the past . Most primary schools in the state already suffer from severe shortages of teachers, classrooms, sanitation facilities, drinking water, playground space, and mid-day meal infrastructure. In many schools, students from two classes are forced to sit together in a single room due to lack of space. Imagine , one teacher teaching two groups of students of different classes resulting only noise . Even where classrooms exist, doors and windows are often broken or unsafe, turning state-run primary education into a grim parody of its intended purpose. In one schoolin Fulbari located in the Siliguri Jalpaiguri border town , guardians are seen escorting their wards during mid day meals least the cattle or the straying dogs ‘ snatch’ the foods from the thalis of little children. The school have no boundary walls. And there are no doors , windows in the schools as the looters and arsonists have taken away the broken doors and windows. The tragic tell is endless.
Introducing Class V into such conditions risks “nipping learning in the bud.” Although education in this state is in coffin, some say in ICU with no chance of resumption since past , but such restructuring has been an added confusion in the present quagmire . Without corresponding investments in infrastructure and staff, the policy is bound to be haphazard, clumsy, and counter-productive—an outcome already visible in many so-called upgraded schools. Though very meagre numbers of students take admissions in this free ‘new’ classes but they migrate in the mid way as there us zero learning.
Former education ministers themselves have admitted that without adequate infrastructure, introducing Class V in primary schools is not feasible. Educationists and guardians alike have expressed grave concern in this regard but governments have its own way . Out of approximately 58,000 primary schools on record, only about 20,000 currently run Class V, leaving nearly 36,000 schools yet to be upgraded. Official registries list around 56,000 primary schools, but the actual number of functioning schools is significantly lower—a figure the state government has never transparently disclosed. Government fudge the data to save its skin.
The Paradox of Zero-Enrolment Schools
According to researchers, more than 7,000 primary schools are either defunct or on the brink of closure due to lack of students and teachers. Data from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) reveals that 3,334 schools in West Bengal, including higher secondary institutions, recorded zero student enrolment in the last academic year—the highest number among all states, followed by Rajasthan. This central government data made with the inputs from the state governments was published in January, 2025.
Even more alarming is that these student-less schools employ 14,627 teachers, raising serious questions about resource allocation and governance. Since UDISE+ data is compiled from information supplied by the states themselves, official denial of these findings appears disingenuous. It is thought that providing accurately non functional schools shall desists the authorities from squandering the mid day meal allotments and other financial grants from central government or International financial organisations. Teachers are shown to be employed in this zero student schools for showing higher employment rate in the state at the cost of public exchequer.
The state government has reportedly proposed converting around 350 such zero-enrolment primary schools into commercial or non-educational facilities. According to Bangiya Teachers’ Association spokesperson Swapan Mandal, steps have been initiated to abolish 348 schools and transfer their land for commercial purposes. Government reports indicate that these schools have had no students since 2020 and that no efforts have been made toward their revival.
District-wise, these schools include 119 in Kolkata, 60 in North 24 Parganas, 24 in Howrah, 17 in South 24 Parganas, 18 in East Burdwan, 11 in West Midnapore, and 12 in Nadia. Many more schools have already ceased functioning informally due to lack of teachers and students, with official abolition merely formalising an existing reality.
Teachers Overburdened, Teaching Neglected
Teacher organisations have strongly opposed the expansion of Class V in primary schools without adequate staffing. Teachers are already overburdened—not only with classroom responsibilities but also with extensive non-teaching duties such as uploading data on the Bangla Shiksha portal, election work, census duties, and vaccination drives. These tasks consume valuable time that should be devoted to teaching and academic planning.
In North Dinajpur alone, 54 primary schools have recently been approved for upgradation. While officials claim that Class V admissions will proceed smoothly, teachers’ associations warn that the future of these programmes is bleak without immediate recruitment and infrastructure support.
Guardians Caught in Confusion
Guardians across districts face a dilemma. Many are reluctant to admit their children to newly introduced Class V sections in old primary schools, especially after witnessing past failures. In rural areas of East Midnapore, teachers report that students admitted to Class V in earlier years dropped out midway due to absence of regular classes and acute teacher shortages, despite assurances from district authorities.
Traditionally, in places like Siliguri, successful primary students moved to Class V in upper primary sections of high schools. Under the new policy, students are expected to remain in their primary schools, a change that many families resist. This has created a bizarre and confusing situation, with the government failing to build confidence among stakeholders.
Conclusion: Policy Without Preparation
Without understanding and addressing the root causes of low enrolment—geographical isolation, poor infrastructure, lack of teachers, and declining quality of education—the forced extension of primary schools up to Class V risks becoming another failed reform. Announcements and approvals cannot substitute for classrooms, teachers, and trust.
Unless the state undertakes a serious, transparent, and well-funded effort to rejuvenate primary education, the current restructuring will remain a policy exercise detached from reality—mocking the very idea of the Right to Education it claims to uphold.
