Eight years have already passed since the Right to Education Act was passed, but the situation of many Government primary schools of Nuapada district has not yet changed as promised both in terms of development of infrastructure as well as quality education.
The school building of the Government Project Primary School of Sabarpada hamlet of Bargaon village in Khariar block is dilapidated.
“The slab may collapse at any moment, but we are undone as there is no other space to sit,” say the teachers.
Cracks have appeared on the wall and the iron reinforcement of the slab is visible at many places. The teachers say that they have already informed the district administration about the condition of the building. There are 50 students in five classes in the school with two teachers.
The condition of the Government Centre Primary School building of the village is also the same. Students are sitting on the verandah. This school has also two teachers for five classes with 65 students. “The weekly market which sits in front of the school building on Tuesday and regular crow in panchayat office adjacent to our class room create a lot of disturbances,” complain the children.
Classes of the Domjhar Upper Primary school of Boden block are run under a tree in the school front yard as the class rooms are dilapidated and unsafe. “The building is old and it is too hot inside as the roof is made of tin sheets,” say the children, adding, “We will continue to sit here until it is repaired, but there are a lot of disturbances as the school is located on road side.” The school has three classes from Classes-VI to VIII with about 100 children. Six teachers have been posted here, but only three teachers are present and the rest are either on training or on leave. “Most of the time only two teachers are available here as the others either go on leave or on training,” complain the villagers.
“If the conditions of the schools, which are not very far from the block headquarters are such, you must imagine what would be the condition of the schools in remote areas,” say the villagers. The members of School Management Committees say though they regularly draw the attention of the higher officials, yet there was no remedial step.