Students of a tribal residential school in Rayagada district walked 25 km to complain to the Collector against the school authorities regarding several issues.
Fourteen students from Classes-V to VIII of the Badaraising Ashram School managed to come out of their school premises at around 3.30 am before reaching the Rayagada Collectorate.
“We neither get quality teaching at the school nor get adequate and standard food. Our teachers, especially the English teacher, are not competent enough to teach in the classroom. We do not understand the English subject as it is taught and explained in English, not in Odia. The food is not served to us properly. We are not allowed to have water bottles with us inside the room,” alleged a student.
“Other basic items like soap and oil that should be given to us once a month are not provided to us. One official had visited our school recently, but we could not dare to inform him of all these irregularities due to presence of the headmaster. Thus, we decided to visit the Collector to convey our grievances,” alleged another student.
An official said, “We have recorded the students’ statements. We will get the statements of other students at the school. Action will be taken after probing their allegations. We will also enquire under which circumstances the students came out of the school in the wee hours. Action will be taken if the school staffs are found in dereliction in their duties.”
