Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government closed 774 schools and merged 532 schools with nearby ones in the three years until January 31, 2026, Education Minister Rohit Thakur informed the state assembly on Monday.

In a written reply to a question of BJP MLA Trilok Jamwal, Thakur said the maximum number of 223 schools were closed and 96 schools were merged in Shimla district, followed by Mandi (138 closed and 91 merged), Kangra (118 closed and 141 merged), Lahaul and Spiti (40 closed and 8 merged), Bilaspur (47 closed and 27 merged) and Kinnaur (41 closed and 10 merged).

The education minister said the rationalisation of schools has been done to improve the quality of education and add better facilities such as buildings, laboratories, grounds and other facilities.

He said the government had notified merger of Government Girls School, Bilaspur with Mukhyamantri Adarsh Government Senior Secondary School on February 18, 2026, but the notification was withdrawn on March 11.

This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.