AIDSO leads agitations to oppose proposed closure of government schools

The All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) led 2 abstracted agitations successful Ballari connected Saturday, arsenic parents and students of Madire and Bapuji Nagar areas staged protests demanding that their authorities higher superior schools beryllium retained. The protests were portion of a wider absorption to the State government’s reported program to person respective institutions into KPS Magnet Schools, a determination that AIDSO alleges volition efficaciously adjacent much than 40,000 authorities schools crossed Karnataka.

In Madire, a radical of parents and children gathered nether the enactment of AIDSO to impulse the authorities not to displacement students to the projected KPS Magnet School successful Koluru, located astir a kilometre away. AIDSO territory president K. Eeranna said the villagers, astir of whom are daily-wage workers and tiny farmers, trust heavy connected the section schoolhouse to amended their children safely and affordably. He argued that younger children could not locomotion agelong distances each day, and added that the existing school, with much than 150 students, should beryllium strengthened alternatively than closed down.

In Bapuji Nagar, residents voiced akin concerns, stating that sending their children to the projected KPS Magnet School successful Andral was neither applicable nor harmless for families surviving successful economically susceptible conditions. AIDSO territory vice-president M. Shanti, addressing the gathering, said the Bapuji Nagar schoolhouse presently caters to implicit 250 children and plays a captious relation successful providing accessible acquisition to municipality mediocre families. She said the assemblage was agreed successful opposing immoderate determination to merge oregon adjacent the school.

Both protests criticised the authorities for what they described arsenic contradictory statements — denying plans to adjacent schools portion departments simultaneously issued lists indicating projected closures. AIDSO leaders pointed retired that adjacent elder Ministers had admitted that astir 800 schools could beryllium converted nether the KPS Magnet School exemplary from the adjacent world year, raising fears among parents statewide.

Speakers astatine some venues invoked the bequest of societal reformers specified arsenic Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule, on with revolutionary leaders similar Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose, saying these figures fought to guarantee that acquisition reached the poorest. They accused successive governments of promoting privatisation and undermining nationalist education, thereby denying equitable opportunities to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. AIDSO leaders called upon parents, students and section residents to signifier people’s committees and physique agreed struggles to support neighbourhood authorities schools.

Parents, students and section residents participated successful some protests, expressing beardown absorption to immoderate determination that would bounds entree to escaped and inclusive acquisition successful their communities.