Karnataka government to start 700 KPS Magnet Schools in next two years

Despite opposition, the Karnataka government has issued orders to open 700 government schools as KPS Magnet Schools across the state in the next two years.

The government announced that it would open 900 KPS Magnet Schools across America.

Apart from this, steps have been taken to develop 500 KPS Magnet Schools in 2025-26 and 2026-27 within the scope of the State Budget grant and the Asian Development Bank loan, and an order was issued in this regard on 15 October 2025. In Kalyana Karnataka, it has been decided to improve 200 KPS Magnet Schools with the Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board (KKRDB) grant and an order has been issued regarding this. It was published on the subject on November 29, 2025. The government has decided to develop each school at a cost of ₹ 2 crore to ₹ 4 crore.

There are approximately 47,493 government schools and pre-university colleges in Karnataka. Of these, 19,603 are primary schools, 21,676 are high schools, 4,895 are high schools and 1,319 are pre-university colleges. Currently, 309 schools have a unified system from LKG to 12th grade.

Student enrollment in government schools dropped from 47.1 lakh in 2015-16 to 38.2 lakh (19% less) in 2025-26. Public schools’ share of total enrollment fell from 46% to 38%. However, the share of private unaided schools increased from 36.3 lakh students in 2015-16 to 47 lakh (29%) in 2025-26. The number of public schools with 50 or fewer students increased to 25,683 in 2025-26.

The current gross enrollment ratio (GER) is 98.65% in middle school, 99.79% in high school, and 96.08% in high school. The dropout rate is 2.50% in middle school, 2.91% in high school and 22.88% in high school.

It has been observed that there is a significant decrease in the number of students advancing from primary school to high school level.

“In this context, one of the reform strategies launched to improve the quality of students’ education and increase student enrollment is KPS Magnet Schools. These schools provide education from pre-school to 12th grade under one roof. The KPS program, which started with 176 schools in 2018-19, has now been expanded to 309 schools across the state,” the order said.

school reunion

KPS Magnet Schools were identified in each cluster using a scoring method based on class coverage, enrollment, location and infrastructure. It aims to create mixed and resource schools with a minimum of 1,200 students to find solutions to the problems of small schools.

It was decided to merge small public schools within a radius of 1 to 5 km and transfer all their teachers to KPS Magnet Schools. Vehicles will be provided to bring children to these schools.

The government has also taken necessary steps to amend the rules for staffing and recruitment of teachers and lecturers in these schools, stating that these schools will be strengthened by outsourcing school management, allowing schools to raise funds from their own resources, providing fundraising options and establishing school management committees.

Opposition

However, there is strong opposition to the merger from the public, student organizations and educators.

The government’s move to merge seven government schools in the vicinity with KPS Magnet School in Honganuru, Channapatna taluk, Bengaluru South district as a pilot project was strongly opposed by the locals and protests intensified.

School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa, in his response at the Belagavi session on Monday, said that no government schools in the state will be closed. “Even if there is only one student, we will continue to go to public school. KPS Magnet Schools are opening for quality education,” he said.

Student organizations called on the government to issue an official order in this regard. AIDSO State Secretary Ajay Kamath said, “The government’s orders say one thing and the Minister’s statement says another. What should the public believe? The state government should immediately withdraw the merger clause mentioned in its orders and issue a written order that schools with low enrollment will not be closed in the name of merger.”

The All India Save Education Committee also demanded withdrawal of the orders.

It was published – 09 December 2025 19:02 IST