Madikeri: A protest meeting was organised at the Mahila Samaj Bhavan in Kushalnagar under the leadership of the AIDSO and the Public Education Save Committee against the closure of more than 230 govt schools in Kodagu under the KPS Magnet Scheme. Parents, students and villagers participated in the meeting.Speaking at the meeting, the AIDSO state vice-president Abhaya Divakar said that the Congress govt is planning to close 40,000 schools under the KPS magnet scheme. He alleged that the ultimate goal is to close govt schools and deprive poor students of education. The govt is opening KPS magnet schools by taking a loan of Rs 2,500 crore from the Asian Development Bank. He questioned whether the govt’s condition is so poor that it needs to take loans from private banks to keep govt schools running.The AIDSO state treasurer Subhash Bettada Koppa said that in Kodagu district, five magnet schools, including Kushalnagar Govt School, Kudige School, Shirangala School and, in Virajpet taluk, Gonikoppa School and Kutta School, are being selected, and 135 schools are being closed under the pretext of merging. If the magnet scheme is implemented, tribal children and children of poor farmers will be deprived of education. Therefore, he demanded that this scheme be abandoned.President of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat’s Kushalnagar unit, Nagesh KS, said that schools should not be closed in villages. To plan a strong struggle, and save public education, a district-level committee was formed. Suresh from Vijayanagar was elected as the president of the committee, Swathi as the secretary, and Akshay as the vice-president. Harish from Chikkattur, Sagar from Thorenur, Chimmi from Byadagotta, Shanti from AITUC labour union, Poornima from Yuvajana organisation. More than 100 people from various villages were elected as members.
