Over 94,000 government schools had been shut down across the country over the past decade, due to defunding of public infrastructure. We need to fight against this, Ashwini K.S., student activist and AIDSO State president said in Dharwad on Sunday.

She was speaking at the AIDSO district-level student camp at KPES School in Dharwad, organised as part of the 200th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule.

“Even in Karnataka, the State government has been trying to shut down around 40,000 government schools under the KPS Magnet scheme. However, the AIDSO protested against this. We argued that such rural schools provided vital educational support to poor families. Due to our protest, the State government was forced to withdraw the move following protests,” Ms. Ashwini said.

She spoke on ‘The role of students in social change,’ and on the life and contribution of Jyotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule.

“Phule sounded the bugle for education against social evils like caste-based discrimination and keeping the lower castes away from education. He firmly believed that education should be universal and should reach everyone, irrespective of their social or economic status. Unfortunately, today’s governments are acting against his vision. They seem to be taking education away from poor students,” she said.

“Even three months of the academic year, the State government has failed to distribute basic necessities like shoes and socks to students. School buildings are in a bad shape. Just three days ago, eight students were injured after a school roof collapsed in Bagalkot district. This is not an isolated incident. There have been such reports from Kalaburagi, Raichur and Kodagu districts that claimed some lives,” she said.

She complained that neither the Union government nor the State government was allocating adequate funds for education. “Over 1.4 crore students graduate every year in the country, but they have no proper jobs. The governments at various levels create only about eight lakh jobs, while the private sector generates only around 10 lakh jobs. What should the graduates do?,” she said.

“Our ruling classes are afraid of the growing number of educated unemployed youth. Therefore, they want to curtail higher education and reduce it to mere training for menial and clerical jobs. There are reports that say around 40% of the country’s national income is concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy individuals, while over 4,000 children die of hunger every day,” said the student activist.

“The ruling classes are systematically weakening the moral backbone of students and youth so that they do not raise their voices against injustice. Students must build a struggle against injustice, following the example of great revolutionaries such as Bhagat Singh and Nethaji Subhas Chandra Bose. They must come forward to fight the commercialisation of education and safeguard public education,” she said.

The camp featured group discussions, cultural programmes, a film screening and games for students.