According to the Performance Grading Index (PGI) survey report on school education, Karnataka is among the poor performers in school education. This report also highlights the poor infrastructure and shortage of teachers in the State. The budgetary allocation towards education is significantly low in Karnataka as compared to other states. School education in Karnataka is in a pathetic state, with reduced government investments, inadequate infrastructure and teachers resulting in high dropout rates and low enrolment. Stating the lack of resources and low enrolment, the government has been either shutting down schools or merging them.
Low enrolment rates in schools indicate the inefficiency of the government in meeting the needs of the people and making primary education accessible to all. According to a report by the Right to Education Cell, Karnataka has a very high pupil-teacher ratio, and the school closures have led to an increase in dropout rates. “By not filling teacher vacancies and closing schools, the government is effectively ‘shrinking’ the public education system and reducing access to education,” the report said. Another report highlighted that Karnataka’s RTE compliance rate falls short of the national average.
There has also been a serious decline in the academic performance of the students over the years. The class 10th pass percentage has decreased from 83.89% in 2023 to 73.40% in 2024. This was after the state government reduced the pass marks from 35% to 25%, and increased the grace marks from 10% to 20%. The ASER 2023 report shows that less than 70% of surveyed students aged 14–16 years in Karnataka could read a class 2 level text in Kannada, and less than 40% could do basic ‘division’. The last 5 years have shown more than 10% decline in the number of students who could do basic arithmetic and reading.
The state government is planning to identify schools with low enrolment ratio and merge them, essentially shutting down a huge number of government schools, making primary school education, which is a basic fundamental right, inaccessible to all citizens. The government is shrugging off its responsibilities and privatizing even basic fundamental services like primary education. Low enrolment rates depict the poor performance of the government due to heavy public disinvestments in education. Instead of allocating enough funds towards education to improve the infrastructure and facilities, and fill teacher vacancies, the government is closing down schools, leaving the public with no option but to drop out of education at a really early stage or go to private schools that charge high fees.
Students have been protesting this move in Kalaburagi and Ballari, resisting the closure of schools and calling this move anti-people. They demand the government to take accountability and improve the quality of education instead of escaping its primary responsibilities by letting private players take control. “You cannot cut a runny nose to get relief from cold. You will rather need to think of alternative methods to address the issue prudently. The state government must immediately step back from its unscientific and anti-poor move,” said a protestor.
This is not an issue plaguing only Karnataka, but the whole country. It is a part of the neoliberal agenda, to privatize and commodify everything, even the basic fundamental rights of the people. We must unite and staunchly resist such anti-people neoliberal policies and demand accountability from the government. Primary education is a fundamental right and the state has a duty to ensure that every student can access primary education.
