Bengaluru: Activists called for improvement in the quality of primary education, especially in rural areas, at a protest Thursday. Led by All-India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO), the protesters alleged the state govt is privatising education and highlighted its attempts to merge several schools due to a drop in the number of students.

The union said it had collected Rs 50 lakh signatures from across the state demanding protection and strengthening of govt schools. Despite school education minister Madhu Bangarappa’s assurance to the assembly that no schools would be closed, the protesters insisted that private schools are being favoured by depriving state-run institutions of quality infrastructure, teachers and education.

“The govt is favouring private schools and offloading its burden by closing govt ones. This is ruining the future of children from poor families,” said A Murigeppa, former vice-chancellor of Hampi Kannada University, who is supporting the protest.

Prakruthi S, a student leader, emphasised the need for better infrastructure in state-run schools. “We are demanding not only to save govt schools but also to strengthen them. Basic facilities like washrooms, proper buildings, teachers’ appointments and infrastructure should be given prominence, and these schools should be saved,” she said.

Former teachers at the protest pointed to the huge number of vacancies, especially in rural areas. “If students want to get English education, there should be English teachers. Even English-medium schools lack teachers, and there are more than 50,000 govt teacher posts in the state which aren’t being filled,” said KV Bhat, a retired govt schoolteacher.

“In chief minister Siddaramiah’s hometown, there is a public school which has 700 students because there is a difference in the quality of that school. If we don’t have any facilities, the number of students will definitely decrease. This year, the govt gave licences to 475 private schools,” said AIDSO treasurer Subhash Bettadakoppa, adding that improving quality of education will solve the issue of lack of students in schools.