Bengaluru, Jan 21 (PTI) Left-wing student organisations on Wednesday accused the Karnataka government of pushing ahead with a plan to shut down thousands of rural government schools under the "KPS Magnet"
scheme, calling it an assault on public education and poor children's access to schools.
The KPS Magnet scheme seeks to consolidate neighbourhood schools into larger and centrally located Karnataka Public Schools.
At a press conference at the Press Club of Bangalore, representatives of AISF, SFI, AIDSO, AISA and KVS released a copy of a government order which, they said, envisages the closure of over 40,000 government schools and their merger into about 6,000 KPS Magnet schools, with 900 such schools planned in the first phase.
They alleged that existing village schools with adequate enrolment were being merged and that parents would be forced to bear the burden of transportation.
The organisations raised the slogan, "Abandon the KPS Magnet project that robs poor children of education! Save public education, save our village government schools!"
They said the order mandates the merger of all schools within one to five km radius to create Magnet centres.
The student groups alleged that the circular shifts responsibility for transport to School Development and Monitoring Committees and opens the door to outsourcing and corporate funding, which they claimed was a move towards privatisation.
"Funds meant for public welfare are being used to close the rural schools where the children of those very people study. This is a betrayal of trust," they said.
They also pointed to existing shortages, noting that there are 59,000 vacant teacher posts, thousands of schools lacking basic repairs and many functioning with a single teacher, and argued that closing schools instead of strengthening them reflected an "anti-education stance".
Condemning compulsory vocational training from Class six under the scheme, the organisations alleged that it would reduce poor children to cheap labour.
"The government is moving towards an anti-civilisation act of creating 'human machines' who lack basic subject knowledge and critical thinking," they said, urging an immediate withdrawal of what they termed the "Black KPS Magnet" project.
The Karnataka government in October last year issued an order to upgrade 500 selected government schools into Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) during 2025-26 and 2026-27, with funding support from the State Budget and an Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan.
Approval has been granted to upgrade 474 schools listed in Annexure 1, while clearance for the remaining 26 schools will be issued later.
Each KPS school is proposed to be developed with infrastructure to cater to at least 1,200 students, with an estimated allocation of Rs two crore to Rs four crore per school, based on school-wise Detailed Project Reports (DPRs).
The government has also approved the upgradation of 200 government schools in the seven districts of the Kalyana Karnataka region into KPS schools using funds from the Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board (KKRDB), including 50 schools announced in the 2025-26 Budget and an additional 150 schools approved for the 2025-27 period.
The order provides for the merger of smaller government schools within one to five km radius into KPS schools, free transportation for students through School Development and Monitoring Committees (SDMCs), adoption of uniform Karnataka Public School Standards, introduction of computer education from Class one, vocational skill-based curriculum from Class six, and special coaching for board and competitive examinations from Class eight. PTI GMS KH
