Mandya: As many as 65 govt schools in Mandya district have been temporarily closed this academic year due to poor student enrolment, with the children being shifted to nearby schools, including Karnataka Public Schools (KPS).The district has 1,609 govt schools. Despite concerted efforts by teachers and school authorities to increase enrolment, several schools continued to have only a handful of students. Consequently, the education department decided to temporarily close 65 schools and shift the enrolled students to nearby institutions to ensure better access to educational facilities.DDPI Basavaraj said most of the schools had only three or four students, making it difficult to continue classes separately. “Teachers and school authorities made every possible effort to increase the enrolment rate. While these efforts yielded positive results in many places, some schools continued to have very low enrolment. In such cases, the students were shifted to nearby schools, including KPS institutions,” he said.Basavaraj clarified that this does not mean that the institutions have been permanently shut down. The schools can be reopened if there is sufficient demand and enrolment in the coming years. He added that the department would continue to monitor enrolment levels. If a school fails to achieve the required minimum student strength continuously for three years, the department may consider closing it permenantly as per the norms.The department is also expected to intensify efforts to attract students to govt schools by highlighting the facilities, infrastructure and educational programmes available in them. The temporary closure is aimed at ensuring that students are provided better learning opportunities in nearby institutions, the officials said.
