Aizawl: Mizoram is considering bringing more schools under full government control after the state recently provincialised 51 private, ad hoc aided and other eligible institutions, School Education Minister Vanlalthlana said on Tuesday.
The Minister announced this on the opening day of the two-day monsoon session of the Mizoram Assembly, while responding to questions during Question Hour.
Vanlalthlana said the previous government had recommended around 180 schools for provincialisation. The present Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) government, headed by Chief Minister Lalduhoma, has so far approved the takeover of 51 of them.
The 51 institutions comprise 12 Higher Secondary schools, 34 High schools and five Elementary schools.
According to the Minister, the government is now assessing other schools that could qualify for provincialisation. The issue has already been considered by the state Cabinet.
For High Schools, the government plans to assess institutions on several parameters, including enrolment, their distance from existing government schools and the length of time they have been functioning.
Vanlalthlana said the enrolment requirement would vary according to the location of a school rather than being based on a single statewide standard.
Schools located within the Aizawl Municipal Corporation and Lunglei Municipal Council areas would be assessed under separate criteria. A different category would cover district headquarters and areas with Sub-Divisional Officer offices, while schools in other locations would be assessed under the “Others” category.
Depending on the area, proposed enrolment benchmarks could include 75 per cent or 50 per cent of the applicable requirement. The government may also consider the number of households in a village while evaluating schools.
“The criteria for further provincialisation have already been reviewed by the Cabinet,” Vanlalthlana said.
He said the 51 schools recently provincialised were assessed under criteria contained in a government notification issued in January 2025.
For Higher Secondary schools, the requirements included at least 10 years of operation as grant-in-aid institutions, minimum enrolment of 80 students in urban areas and 40 in rural areas for four years, and an average pass rate of at least 80 per cent over four years under the Mizoram Board of School Education.
High Schools were required to have operated as grant-in-aid institutions for at least 10 years, own their school buildings and meet the prescribed enrolment standards. The minimum enrolment requirement was 30 students, while girls’ schools were required to have at least 25 students, subject to class-wise conditions.
For Elementary schools, the eligibility conditions included at least 10 years of operation as grant-in-aid institutions, ownership of their buildings and a minimum enrolment of 25 students or the applicable class-wise requirement, the Minister said.