Students of Government Higher Primary School at Puttegowdanahundi and their parents staging a demonstration against the closure of the school, on December 6.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Scores of students and their parents staged a demonstration at Varuna in Mysuru taluk on December 6 to save two government schools that could be merged with Karnataka Public Schools (KPS).
The demonstration was led by All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO), which is opposed to the policy of merging nearby government schools with local KPS that may have better facilities.
Two schools that are threatened with the closure or merger are the Government Higher Primary Schools in Puttegowdanahundi and Hosahundi villages.
AIDSO activists said that both villages are in Varuna Assembly constituency, represented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and it was ironical that the schools there are facing the threat of closure or merger.
AIDSO District Secretary Nitin addressed the students and public, saying that the government, under the guise of the KPS-Magnet scheme, is claiming to establish one government school per gram panchayat and moving towards closing over 40,000 government schools in the State.
As part of this scheme, the government has announced that it will upgrade Varakodu Government Higher Primary School to a KPS school and merge the Government Higher Primary Schools of Puttegowdanahundi and Hosahundi villages into the Varakodu school, effectively closing them, he added.
Expressing concern over the developments, Mr. Nitin said that the Government Higher Primary School at Puttegowdanahundi has a strength of 91 students, most of whom are children of farmers and labourers.
Under the KPS-Magnet school scheme, 1,662 government schools in Mysuru district face the threat of the merger, which is nothing but closure, he added.
Villagers stated that the new building for the Government Higher Primary School at Puttegowdanahundi was inaugurated recently and they would not send their children to the Varakodu school as it was six kilometres away.
A parent said that the village school was built on land donated by a philanthropist and hence, the local community has an emotional connection with it.
Villagers warned that they will not allow the school to be handed over to self-help groups in any circumstance and threatened to hold a massive protest in case the school is closed.
Published – December 06, 2025 07:07 pm IST
