Aizawl: Mizoram School Education Minister Vanlalthlana on Tuesday said that the state government is considering taking over more schools after recently approving the provincialisation (full government takeover) of 51 private, ad hoc aided and other eligible schools.
Replying to queries during Question Hour in the Mizoram Assembly, Vanlalthlana said that out of about 180 schools recommended by the previous government, 51 schools have been provincialised under the present Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) administration headed by Chief Minister Lalduhoma.
Of these provincialised schools, 12 were higher secondary schools, 34 were high schools, and five were elementary schools, he said.
The minister informed the Assembly that the government is now examining additional schools for possible provincialisation, with the matter having already been discussed by the Cabinet.
For high schools, the government is considering five broad parameters, including enrolment, proximity to other government-run schools and the age of the institution, he said.
Importantly, enrolment will not be assessed using a uniform yardstick across the state, and instead area-wise assessment will be used, he said.
Schools will be evaluated according to their location, with separate consideration for the Aizawl Municipal Corporation (AMC) and Lunglei Municipal Council (LMC) areas.
The next category will cover district headquarters and places where Sub-Divisional Offices are located, while the remaining areas will fall under the "Others" category, the minister said.
Under the proposed area-wise assessment, schools will be evaluated against different enrolment thresholds, including 75 per cent and 50 per cent criteria, depending on the category.
The government will also take into account factors such as the number of houses in a village while assessing eligibility.
"The criteria for further provincialisation have already been reviewed by the cabinet", Vanlalthlana said.
The minister also said that the present government followed different criteria laid down in the official notification issued in January 2025 for provincialising the 51 schools.
For higher secondary schools, the key prerequisites include having functioned as a government grant-in-aid school for at least 10 years, maintaining a minimum enrolment of 80 students in urban areas and 40 in rural areas for four years, and recording an average pass percentage of at least 80 per cent over four years under the Mizoram Board of School Education (MBSE), he said.
For high schools, the requirements include at least 10 years of operation as grant-in-aid schools, ownership of their own buildings and prescribed minimum enrolment. The minimum enrolment is 30 students, while for girls' schools it is 25 students, subject to the prescribed class-wise requirement, he said.
Elementary Schools must similarly have operated as grant-in-aid schools for at least 10 years, possess their own buildings and meet the prescribed minimum enrolment of 25 students or the applicable class-wise requirement, Vanlalthlana added.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.