Karnataka: As government shifts students to ‘model school’, villagers protest

While several education officials said the need for model schools is rising because of fewer students, shortage of teachers in primary schools and a demand for quality education with facilities like computer labs, sports facilities, libraries etc, critics of the scheme alleged it was a move to shut down thousands of government schools.

“If they have to shift students from our village to a school in a neighbouring village, why did they spend money and construct the school in our village in the first place? Let the classes be conducted in our own village like it was happening until now,” a villager in Baginagere said. The midday meals scheme too has been stopped at the public school in Baginagere and has been diverted to KPS.

According to the Block Education Officer (BEO) of Magadi taluk, a total of 35 students have been transported to the new school at Sankighatta since the start of the academic year. “The KPS at Sankighatta was inaugurated in March this year and as a pilot initiative, we have been transporting students from Baginagere in tempos since the start of this academic year. However, villagers and local political leaders are protesting against this move,” BEO H S Yathikumar said.

The new school currently has 350 students from Class 1-10 and if the adjoining school students are integrated to this school, the strength will go up, he added. “The model school is equipped with more teachers, good infrastructure and facilities and can accommodate more students,” Yathikumar said.

With Education Minister B C Nagesh announcing that 13,800 schools in Karnataka have less than 25 students, Opposition parties and critics are alleging that the government will now shut down these schools and deny education to students.

An education official from Ramanagara, a district Higher Education Minister Dr Ashwath Narayan is in charge of, said that funds from Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for maintenance and infrastructure needs of schools have stopped, and hence, schools are losing out on students to neighbouring government or private schools.

“The aim of SSA was to achieve universalisation of education and open up schools in every kilometre. However, once the funds from SSA stopped, the crisis hit many new schools, especially those with less than 10 students and infrastructure and quality education suffered. In Ramanagara taluk alone, there are about 23 schools with less than 10 students, out of which five are already shut,” the education official said.

The official added that villagers were worried that even schools with more than 25 students would be impacted. However, Nagesh clarified that, “There is no question of closing down schools even if there is one student and one teacher.”

Meanwhile, K Sudhakar, deputy director of public instruction, Dakshina Kannada, said, “The model school (project) is still in a pilot phase and we have already recommended 40 schools as model schools. However, in Dakshina Kannada, there is no fear of shutting down schools with less than 10 students because of the geographical conditions. Since this region consists of mountainous terrain, access to transportation is very difficult and students have to travel long distances for school. In Dakshina Kannada, there are very few schools with less than 10 students and if the student feels that he is getting quality education in a better model school, he will definitely choose the latter.”

R Vishal, commissioner of department of public education, defended the pilot initiative and pointed out that the decreasing population among children in rural regions was resulting in low admissions. “Earlier, in every one kilometre, a school was set up in a village because of a large number of children. However, now, the population of children is decreasing,” he said.

Referring to how the birth rate in the state was decreasing in line with the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) dropping to 1.7 as per the National Family Health Survey 2019-2021, Vishal said that 13 districts in rural Karnataka are likely to see a drop in the number of children under the age of 10.

“Earlier, anganwadis used to have 30-40 children and now it is reduced to 25, and within the next 10 years, it will go down to 5. Even if you develop the 13,800 schools with less than 10 students, you will not get students because of the shrinking population among the age group of under 10 years,” Vishal added.

“Therefore, under the model school programme, 20,000 schools with more students and better facilities is a sustainable option than to have 48,000 schools with scattered student strength and poor infrastructure,” said Vishal, adding that 1,500 schools have been selected for the model school programme.

Allaying concerns over the programme, Nagesh assured that teachers in model schools in gram panchayats will be appointed as per student strength and the number of sections. He also announced that free transportation will be provided to students through Members of Legislative Assembly Local Area Development (MLALAD) funds and students will be introduced to spoken English classes and better academic opportunities.

Nagesh also highlighted that in districts like Yadgir, Raichur and Koppal, there is an immense shortage of teachers. “In Raichur, 32 schools have zero teachers, and in Chamarajanagar, 16 schools have zero teachers. Last year, over 2 lakh teachers took the exam but only 3,000 were recruited,” he said.

However, the All India Democratic Students Organisation (Karnataka) slammed the state government, alleging that it was shutting down schools on the pretext of mergers and model schools. “It is shocking that the government has shown no hesitation in blatantly telling us that 13,800 schools will be closed down this year. Current academic year has witnessed a horrifying situation in which 10 lakh students dropped out of schools in Karnataka. At times like these, improving the facilities and appointing adequate numbers of teachers to government schools should have been the priority of the government,” Sithara H M, office secretary of AIDSO Karnataka said.