Karnataka government’s move to merge government schools with Magnet Schools opposed

All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) on Friday (November 21) staged a dharna in front of the Old Deputy Commissioner’s office in Mysuru opposing the State government’s reported move to merge a large number of government schools with Karnataka Public Schools (KPS), which have been designated as Magnet Schools.

AIDSO State Treasurer Subhash Bettadakoppa said under the banner of “quality education” and “model schools”, the government’s reported move will eventually destroy the public education system established through the struggles for free and universal education. He alleged that the merger of schools is merely a pretext to “privatise” education and deny access to the poor and marginalised.

He claimed that Karnataka currently has 49,600 government schools, while there are only 5,900 gram panchayats across the State. “As per the government’s reported plan, Magnet Schools will be established only at the gram panchayat level, which means that only these 5,900 institutions, including PU colleges, will remain. In Mysuru district, the government has already announced the conversion of Kanakagiri High School, Maharaja High School, People’s Park High School, Gousianagar High School, Udburu High School, and Hootagalli High School into Magnet Schools,” he said in a press statement here.

AIDSO District Secretary Nithin said the government claims that schools with a strength of less than 50 students located within a radius of one to five kilometres of Magnet Schools will be merged, and transportation will be arranged for students. However, he pointed out that in many villages, even existing bus services are inadequate, forcing students to walk long distances. With schools relocated six to seven kilometres away, poor students will be pushed out of education, he argued.

In the statement, he criticised the government for reportedly borrowing ₹2,500 crore from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the project and planning an additional ₹10,000 crore loan, all while reportedly closing government schools to allegedly “serve the interests of private and corporate education lobbies”.

He called upon students, teachers, parents, and the public to join hands to safeguard government schools from closure and launch a statewide movement against any such move.