Notwithstanding the fact that the State Government is announcing various schemes to ensure education to every child, the facility of education is still a distant dream for quite a lot of children.
A primary school, Chudanga Prathamik Prakalpa Vidyalaya, near Nandankanan at Chudangagarh village on the outskirts of the capital city of Bhubaneswar is a glaring example of how the education system works in the State.
located on a small hill, the school has only two teachers for Classes-I to V with a paltry 30 students. A shanty in appearance, the school has nothing in the name of infrastructure except a blackboard, a table and a pair of chair, all in deplorable conditions. One can hardly identify the dilapidated house as a school unless he notices an old nameplate hanging on its wall outside.
Opened on March 23, 2011, the so-called school is yet to get a building with at least minimum infrastructure facilities. The teacher duo somehow manage to take classes in this hot summer as there is no electricity supplied to the school; forget about other basic facilities like water and sanitation.
During rainy days, the school gets flooded with water, thanks to the holes on its tin roof. With no other option, the school remains closed for atleast 10 to 15 days every month in the monsoon, bringing the education of the children to a standstill.
“Earlier, our children had to go seven kilometers from here to the Jhunjhunwalah Vidyapeeth as there was no school in the village.
After a prolonged fight, we finally got a school in our village but without basic facilities. Teachers also do not attend the classes regularly here,” said a villager, Ramchandra Tudu.
Adding to the woes, while the Government provides food to every school in the State under its mid-day meal programme, the children of this school hardly get rice, pulses, eggs, etc, under the scheme for the reason best known to the administration. “Meals are served to students for a few days in a month whereas eggs are provided only once a month,” rued another villager. As the school has a small number of students, the teachers receive an inadequate amount of grant from the Government.
“We have appraised the Gram Panchayat, BDO, MlA and MP about all the issues, but in vain. Construction of a new building for the school was planned ten months ago, but the work is yet to begin. Amidst such a situation, we are trying our best to provide education to the children,” said the teachers.
Surprisingly, when asked, village Sarpanch Prashant Routray maintained that construction of a new school building has been delayed due to the elections, avoiding the fact that the proposal was floated nearly a year ago. He added that construction work would begin soon after the elections.
However, the villagers see a ray of hope as candidates of several political parties have assured them about construction of a new school building after winning the elections. Now, it is to be seen whether the villagers will actually get their longstanding wish fulfilled or it was just another fake promise made to the innocent villagers to pocket their votes.