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Mayawati, the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), voiced serious worry on Tuesday about the declining state of Uttar Pradesh’s government-run elementary schools, describing the situation as “very pathetic.”

She cautioned that if it persists, marginalized populations’ educational future would be in jeopardy.

Mayawati used official enrollment data to highlight a sharp decline in the state’s primary and upper primary school enrollment. 1.74 crore pupils were enrolled in Uttar Pradesh’s elementary and upper primary schools during the 2023–24 school year. She stated in a post on X, “However, in 2024-25, this number has dropped to just 1.52 crore — a sharp decline of nearly 22 lakh students.”

The BSP leader called this trend “serious and worrying” and said that the government has to acknowledge the value of basic education and act quickly to address it. “The government school system’s poor state demonstrates that the educational needs of the disadvantaged are not being adequately addressed. To raise educational quality and infrastructure in schools, the government must take action,” she said.

The state government’s policies on private madrasas, particularly those that use low-cost models in rural and minority-dominated areas, were also criticized by Mayawati.

“The government is targeting these madrasas by declaring them unlawful and attempting to close them down, rather than offering assistance. She urged the government to take a more positive stance, saying, “This is needless, unfair, and further weakens access to basic education for the poor.”

She reaffirmed that while government schools are in bad condition in many Indian states, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are particularly concerning.

“The future of their children is negatively impacted by this neglect, which directly hinders the development of impoverished Bahujan families,” she stated.

“The government should prioritize improving school education and providing suitable incentives to encourage attendance, instead of closing schools,” she said.

Mayawati’s comments were made when she was aggressively trying to regain the political ground that her party had lost.

In an apparent effort to reestablish a connection with the Bahujan youth, she recently reappointed her nephew Akash Anand as the national coordinator of the BSP, with an eye on the 2018 elections.