Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy
Credit: X/@hd_kumaraswamy
Bengaluru: The state government’s decision to merge some government schools with those tagged ‘Magnet’ schools, and subsequently transform the institution into a Karnataka Public School (KPS) has drawn flak from stakeholders and political leaders, including Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy.
Although Minister for School Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa had announced that the government would not shut a single school, setting up a KPS in each Gram Panchayat would necessitate merging five to six schools, which could potentially result in their closure.
Training his guns on the government, Kumaraswamy wrote on ‘X’: “This is an indication of how the primary education system has collapsed in the state. The Congress government has failed to develop infrastructure at schools, and provide uniforms and textbooks to students. Now it has found a way to merge schools and upgrade them into KPS.”
Kumaraswamy further claimed that the government had decided to close 25,000 government schools where enrolment was 10-50% of the sanctioned student strength.
In a statement released to the media on the subject, People’s Alliance for Fundamental Right to Education (PAFRE) claimed that the state government was seeking to implement the National Education Policy through the ‘backdoor’. “We condemn the state government’s decision to shut 25,682 schools where admissions are low, and merge them with 700 KPS, identified as ‘Magnet’ schools,” read the statement.
PAFRE went on to remind Chief Minister Siddaramaiah about his commitment to set up 500 KPS using funds provided by the Asian Development Bank. “He never spoke about merging schools with poor enrolment. It’s unfortunate that the Congress, which opposed the BJP government’s attempts to merge schools, is now doing the same,” PAFRE’s statement read.
Opposition to the move notwithstanding, the government has issued an order to merge seven government schools in Channapatna in Bengaluru South district. The schools will be merged with the KPS developed by Kanva Foundation. While one of the schools slated for closure boasts a student strength of two, the others have 100, 80, 82, 77, 31 and 20 students respectively.