AIDSO leads protest against move to merge govt. schools

AIDSO members led a protest in Belagavi against what they called the State government’s plans to close down government schools in the name of merger to set up Karnataka Public Schools (KPS).

They walked from Rani Channamma Circle to the Deputy Commissioner’s office and raised slogans against the State government. They submitted a petition to the State government through the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

“The Congress government in the State is closing down nearly 40,000 schools, in the name of setting up KPS Magnet Schools. This will achieve nothing other than pushing the future of poor students into darkness. We strongly condemn this move. We will continue to protest till this decision is reversed,” the protestors said.

AIDSO district convener Mahantesh Bilur suspected that the State government is taking such anti-people measures under pressure from international funding agencies.

“In a recent press conference, Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa admitted to the fact that the State government has taken a loan of ₹2,500 crore from the Asian Development Bank for the KPS project,” he said.

“It plans to take another loan of ₹10,000 crore if the pilot is found successful. This is a clear indication that the government is closing schools to protect corporate interests,” he added.

“The Minister has indicated that there will be one KPS Magnet School in each gram panchayat that will train students from first standard to 12th standard. This means that schools nearby will be closed in the name of merger. In the first phase, preparations are under way to identify 700 magnet schools and close thousands of rural schools around them. Honganur Government School in Channapatna taluk of Ramanagara has already been identified as a KPS Magnet School. A Government Order has been issued to urgently merge seven schools within a 6-km radius of the school,” he said.

“Similarly, 47 KPS Magnet Schools have been identified across Belagavi district. They include Sardar High School in the city, Urdu High School in Khanjargalli and Kanabaragi Higher Primary School. Hundreds of schools around them will be closed. This is unacceptable,” he said.

“At the beginning of this academic year, the State government proposed to close more than 6,800 schools in the name of ‘Hub and Spoke’ model. We opposed this. As a protest against this, ADISO and concerned students conducted a campaign to collect 50 lakh signatures. As a result, the Education Minister promised the people of the State that not a single government school will be closed. But now, the government is planning to close down over 40,000 schools in the name of setting up KPS Magnet Schools. It has already begun preparation on the first such school in Channapatna. The Congress government has betrayed the trust of the people of the State,” he said.

“We are not against Karnataka Public Schools but we strongly condemn the merger of surrounding schools into a single school under the KPS Magnet School Scheme. Such closure is against the wishes of great leaders like Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Mahatma Jyotiba Pule and revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh-Netaji, who are pioneers of our country’s Renaissance Movement,” he said.

Student leaders Sanju, Lakshmi, Muskan, Chahat, Savitri and Malashree participated in this protest.