Primary education is the foundation of development of a State in building human resources and ensuring social progress. Kerala in January 2016 became the first State in the country to achieve 100 per cent primary education and it is also ahead of many social development indicators vis-a-vis other developed States.
Against this backdrop, the most recent reply of the Odisha School and Mass Education Minister in State Assembly over status of primary education, the CAG report of 2015, the Child Census of the State, NCERT’s All India School Education Survey (AISES) report, 2015, and ST and SC Development Department Minister’s report in the Assembly in 2015 have been a matter of concern.
The State Government has not been properly implementing the SSA and the RTE Act, 2009 in spite of huge resources being spent. The primary education of the State has been worsening both qualitatively and quantitatively. The negligence of primary education in the State will have wider ramification over the educational development of the State.
It is reported that the enrolment in Government schools has been consistently decreasing whereas the number of private schools and student enrolment ratio has been increasing in the State. Though the Government has been providing Mid Day Meal (MDM), free uniform and textbooks, the dropout rate has not been controlled. Under the Rights of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, education up to 8th standard is made free by the Government. The huge planned investment in primary education sector has not undergone the required changes.
Still there are thousands of schools with single teacher and single classroom. There are over a thousand of rural habitations without primary school within one km and hundreds of villages have no upper primary school within three km. It is mostly the SC and ST dominated habitations which have schools in distance places. There are under qualified teachers, even under matriculates without any professional qualification on teaching. Thousands of posts of teacher are vacant in different schools with high teacher –student ratio. It is said by the School and Mass Education Minister that in order to follow the RTE norms, the State needs more than one lakh teachers. Many of the schools in interior parts lack basic infrastructure, class room, library, drinking water, sanitation facility and it is reported that about 80 per cent schools have no playground.
Though the State Government has relaxed the criteria of opening of new schools in KBK area and tribal sub plan area, the backward districts such as Rayagada, Koraput, Kalahandi, Malkanagiri, Balangir and Keonjhar have hundreds of primary schools having single teacher and also lack of basic set-up. The State Government has decided to close many schools in an attempt to streamline the expenditure. It is fact that the interior pockets, tribal areas, backward districts and marginalised poor are the worst sufferers of the Government inaction because of their dependency on Government schools for primary education. As the Government is the largest provider of primary education, the privatisation of education is not going to solve the problem of the majority of the marginalised poor in the State.
The most atrocious miseries are being faced by the poor students of SCs and STs who are residents of Ashram schools run by the State SC/ST Development (SSD) Department. The State has reported a high number of deaths of children in residential schools and atrocities against girl children. There are cases of pregnancy and unwed motherhood reported in these schools. The SC/ST Development Minister admitted the grim reality in the State Assembly last year. During last five years about 150 students died and hundreds of girls faced rape, molestation, physical and mental torture, besides harassment. The conditions of some of ashram schools are no way less than jails in terms of quality of food, accommodation, living condition and above all security of children. There have been complaints of snakebite, insecurity due to lack of boundary wall, lack of sanitation, proper drinking water and electricity. In some cases, the hostel buildings are unsafe to stay. There are hostels where children sleep on the floor without bed and mosquito net. These hostels are in remote areas and mostly children from poor SC and ST families are forced to stay in these hostels run by the State Government with grant-in-aid from the Central Government. During last five years, 16 girls faced sexual assault out of which eight were by teachers and the rest by other persons and employees as reported by SSD Minister in the Assembly in April 2015. The State Government has issued guidelines for safety and security, mess management and school and hostel monitoring. The district level officials, including DM, PD DRDA, PA ITDA, Sub Collector, DWO and SI of Schools are supposed to pay monitoring visits but the guidelines are just thrown to the winds. There has been lack of regular communication among parents, teachers and Government officials about the students’ performances and living conditions in the hostel. The elected people’s representatives of the SC and ST communities, MPs, MlAs and PRI members, educationists, media, human rights bodies and civil society organisations (CSOs) should visit the schools and hostels and must have interaction with students and teachers for overall qualitative improvement.
Both the School and Mass Education and the SSD departments at higher level should undertake overall periodic review of the condition of the schools and the progress of the students.
The social situation of SC/ Dalit students in day schools and hostels has not changed, especially in rural and interior parts, as the practices of untouchability and caste-based discrimination continue during midday meal, functions and pujas. The Dalit students face mental torture, social humiliation and abuse by fellow upper caste students, teachers and non-teaching staff. The pre-primary institutions such as Balbadi and Aganwadi have reported discrimination by service providers against small kids of poor and marginalised groups in rural areas.
These issues are not being discussed in forums such as Odisha State Council for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) and other related bodies, largely left to the marginalised communities as their internal issues. The international organisations, NGOs, CSOs, and child rights organisations in the State should focus the issues of the marginalised children. Poverty and caste-based discrimination restricts access of the poor and marginalised to quality education and the realisation of rights depends more on the State intervention.
The children of migrant workers are deprived of primary education because of seasonal interstate migration. The OSCPCR in its report on migration mentioned that huge numbers of children from western Odisha are migrating every year to various parts of the country with their parents and the commission has recommended for seasonal hostels for the migrant children. The rural poor landless agricultural workers, sharecroppers, construction workers and job card holders of MGNREGA are unable to support their children due to lack of employment and persistent income throughout the year. The children of these poor families become school dropouts and child labourers. In spite of the child labour prohibition law and interstate migration control provisions, there has been no substantial development on eradication of child labour and interstate migration. In this way, thousands of children of the vulnerable families are deprived of primary education which is a fundamental right of every child.
(Email- manasbbsr15@gmail.com, Mob-09437060797)