The Odisha Shramajeebee Manch and the Mahila Shramajeebee Manch have launched a month-long State-wide campaign on education and health.

As part of it, the members would undertake a study of 1,000 elementary schools of in 17 districts and the findings of the study will be shared to the Government to take actions.

Notably, as per the report of National RTE Forum, 6.6% of schools of the State are compliant with RTE norms after 10 years of implementation of Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009. There are 306 schools where there is no school building. The State Government has also closed down 966 schools where the student strength is less than 10 in the current academic session which is a gross violation of the RTE Act.

Even though the State Government has further notified to re-open schools in geographically inaccessible areas, the people have resented over the decision as the step was taken without consulting with the people, said Sumitra Kulesika, a member of Mahila Jana Jagarana Manch, Rayagada.

According to the Niti Ayog’s School Education Quality Index (SEQI) report, not a single school in Odisha has adopted the transparent online transfer system for school teachers. Nearly 25 per cent elementary schools in the State failed to meet the teacher norms mandated under the (RTE) Act.

Besides, the ‘equity’ stands greatly hampered as not a single school in the State has provided aids and appliances to Children with Special Needs (CWSN).

The State Government has also a Multi-lingual Policy from 2007 but it fails to cover all the schools of tribal areas even after 12 years of the formulation of the policy.

"If this trend goes on, we fear that we cannot meet targets of Goals 4 of SDG 2030," said international child rights activist and country convener, National Coalition for Education, New Delhi, Dr Ramakant Rai.