{
  "id": 5139860,
  "title": "Nearly 500 Girls May Quit Studies As Parents Oppose School Merger In MP’s Dhar",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/nearly-500-girls-may-quit-studies-as-parents-oppose-school-merger-in",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-02T17:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/indore/nearly-500-girls-may-quit-studies-as-parents-oppose-school-merger-in-mps-dhar"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, nearly 500 girls at Government Girls Higher Secondary School No 4, Ghoda Chaupati, face the possibility of quitting their studies if the school merges with Sandipani Boys School. Parents have vehemently opposed the merger, stating they chose the girls-only institution for that very reason. The merger would force their daughters to study with boys, a change many parents find unacceptable and potentially disruptive to their daughters' education. Several parents have explicitly stated they would rather withdraw their daughters entirely from school rather than see them study alongside male classmates. With no other girls' higher secondary school in the vicinity, the decision to merge could result in the loss of formal education for many girls, particularly those from rural areas surrounding Dhar. Furthermore, parents argue that the merger rules stipulate only schools with fewer than 100 students can be combined, yet the school in question houses around 500 students, raising questions about the legitimacy of the merger's approval. On Wednesday, a group of parents, led by Jagdish Jat from Dilavara, presented a memorandum to the district collector, tribal affairs assistant commissioner, local MP, MLA, and district panchayat president, urging the cancellation of the merger to preserve their daughters' education.",
  "summary": "Dhar (Madhya Pradesh): Parents of nearly 500 girls studying at Government Girls' Higher Secondary School No 4, Ghoda Chaupati, have warned they will stop sending their daughters to school if the institution's merger with Sandipani Boys' School goes ahead. The parents said they chose this school specifically because it was for girls only. With the merger, their daughters would now have to study…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}