Shimla, March 30 The Himachal Pradesh government closed 774 schools and merged 532 schools with nearby ones between January 31, 2026, until the end of the current fiscal year, Education Minister Rohit Thakur informed the state assembly on Monday.
In a written reply to a question by BJP MLA Trilok Jamwal, Thakur said that the maximum number of 223 schools were closed and 96 schools were merged in the 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 that the rationalization of schools has been done to improve the quality of education and to add better facilities such as buildings, laboratories, grounds and other facilities.
He said that the government had notified the 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Bilaspur, with Mukhyamantri Adarsh Government Senior Secondary School on February 18, 2026, but the notification was withdrawn on March 11.