BENGALURU: The Save Public Education Committee and the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation Karnataka State Committee released a joint statement on Tuesday, condemning School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa’s move to shift students from low-enrolment schools to Karnataka Public Schools (KPSs).
The statement, which was co-signed by prominent civic activists across the state, called the potential move to close down thousands of schools “anti-student, anti-poor and deceptive”.
“Claiming ‘no government school will be closed’ while taking the decision to transfer children from rural schools to KPSs under the pretext of low enrolment is a ploy to permanently close down government schools in rural areas.
No specific standard has been set for what constitutes ‘low enrollment’. This reflects the government’s anti-people attitude, stripping away the right to education from children belonging to poor, agrarian, working-class and oppressed communities,” it read.
The organisations stressed that the right move would be to improve enrolment by providing necessary infrastructure, required teachers and quality education to struggling schools.
“Due to transport issues, children in rural areas, especially girls, face the risk of being deprived of education. In the current academic year alone, the government has failed to provide bus facilities to more than 25,000 students moving to KPSs,” the statement read.
It added that “an intense state-wide agitation will be restarted by uniting students, parents and the general public” if the demands were not met.