The decision of the Government to go ahead with closure of primary and upper primary schools where overall student enrolment is found to be less than 10 has resulted in about winding up of nine such schools located in Naugaon block under Jagatsinghpur district.
Plagued by abysmally low student strength and steady rate of dropout, a six-decade-old school, Naranapur Primary School in Naugaon block was among the ones closed this year.
Meanwhile, the Village Education Committee [VEC] and locals have taken a fresh bid to restart the school after fulfilling the conditions fixed by School and Mass Education Department.
However, due to administrative laxity and callousness on the part of district Sarva Sikhya Abhiyan [SSA], the school is yet to restart. As a result, about 24 students are seating idle at homes for past two months.
Reports said that the school had received closure notice from the SSA authority before summer vacation. Consequently, Transfer Certificate (TC) had been given to about seven students studying in the school earlier who were advised to join in nearby Government school and working teachers had been shifted to other schools.
The VEC and local guardians, however, approached the SSA District Project Coordinator [DPC] seeking to restart the school. Responding to the public grievance, the DPC had asked the aggrieved VEC members to submit afresh details of students’ enrolment, birth certificate, polio card, guardian consent letter, Sarpanch recommendation and other supporting documents for reopening the school.
The VEC president had supplied all documents before the DPC for consideration and inspection of the school in early July. Responding to the matter, the DPC had visited the school and studied the feasibility condition for school reopening but till date no action has been taken to restart the school.
VEC president Raj Kishor Ray resented that the newly enrolled 24 students have been seating idle at homes in spite of the fact that all documents have been furnished to restart the school with the SSA authority.
On the other hand, the district SSA Project Coordinator Sapan Kumar Jena informed, “We have no problem restarting the Naranapur primary school, but it requires few legal formalities to be followed.
Meanwhile, I have already given my reports to the district Collector cum SSA chairman for approval, who has sought more information and suggestion from the District Education Officer to restart the school.”