Decline in student enrolment has resulted in closure of govt. schools in the country, says VIT Chancellor

Steep decline in enrolment of students in government schools has resulted in closure of hundreds of government schools across the country over the past decade, said G. Viswanathan, founder and chancellor, VIT, on Sunday.In his presidential address at the scholarship distribution event organised by Universal Higher Education Trust (UHET) of VIT University in its campus here, he said that students are increasingly shifting to private schools that has left many government schools with poor enrolment of students. “In numerical terms, around 94,000 government schools have been closed across the country in the past decade. In Tamil Nadu, around 210 government schools were shut in the same period,” he said.The Chancellor highlighted the importance of education to bridge the economic disparity in the society. He stressed that India as a national team should perform better in International sports events. Better coordination between Centre and States is needed to improve results, he said.The VIT’s UHET has so far supported 11,658 students with scholarships totaling ₹14.30 crore. On Sunday, 925 students received assistance amounting to ₹87.15 lakh. Abirami Ramanathan, Managing Director of Abirami Mega Mall, Chennai, and Sankar Viswanathan, vice president, VIT, were present on the occasion. Published - October 18, 2026 05:40 pm IST