A recent trend of primary education in Odisha shows that private English medium schools have mushroomed where taking education has been too expensive.
These are very special schools carefully set-up for the super rich class with air-conditioned digital class rooms, AC school bus and all other enjoyable opportunities such as Disney play, music, dance, sports, gymnasium, swimming pool and horse riding available at the school for the children.These schools advertise themselves to attract the parents to grab the best of the available opportunities for their children to get quality education and for their holistic development in a fast changing globalised world. The State policy supports such initiatives by providing land in prime locations, legal clearances and all other incentives. There are a number of private companies, corporate foundations and trusts which have joined this profiteering venture.
The State ST/ SC Development (SSD) department is planning to setup English medium model public school in three tribal dominated district of Rayagada, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar in public–private partnership mode. On the other side, every day media reports from different parts of the State portray a very disturbing picture about a vast majority of poor children in slums, villages and remote and inaccessible areas who are deprived of opportunities because their parents are illiterate and resource less.
Even in spite of attempt by the Government and the private organisations, many of the poor children are out of schools as dropouts and child labourers. Many Government schools lack basic minimum infrastructure and teaching staff. Article 45 of the Constitution says the State shall endeavour to provide within a period of ten years from the commencement of the constitution for free and compulsory education to all children until they complete the age of 14 years. The Right to free and compulsory education has also made it an obligation on part of the Government to provide quality education without discrimination.
However, it is very often reported that in many villages children are reading under trees and thatched roofs in hot summer, winter and rainy days seating on the floor without a roof over their head. There is no school building, class room, black board, drinking water, toilets and non-availability of teaching staff. There have been reports of children suffering due to food poison and lack of safe drinking water. There are also reports of death of children due to wall breaking, snake bite and malaria etc. There are horrible reports from the ashram school run by SSD department, where children are being discriminated because of their social identity and poor economic condition.
The SC and ST children are being segregated and cornered in the name of their welfare and dumped into ashram schools. They are not only facing social segregation but also humiliation and deprivation and forced to manage with bare minimum against all odds. When they are leaving the place, they are forcibly brought back by the local administration and departmental officials to the hostels. The State Government and private organisations are running hostels for SC, ST and OBC students and promoting this identity based social segregation of students in the State.
The poor condition of schools is very common in almost all the districts. Recently, it was reported that 44 students read under a temporary shed in Tikarpada primary school in Kansa panchayat of Sukinda block. Minu Behera(11) of Kankadahada block of Dhenkanal district got seriously injured when roof of her school fell down on her during school hour. A tribal girl of Kolabeda Sikshashram was killed as a portion of the school wall collapsed on her. 12 girls of laxmipur Kanyashrama in Rayadaga block were admitted to a Brahmapur hospital in serious condition due to consumption of polluted water in the hostel.
The quality of education and holistic development of children has been a cause of concern in Government primary schools. A majority of the parents who depend on Government schools for the education of their children are BPl families. In recent past, tribal girl students committed suicide due to failure of non-payment of tuition fee to school.
The poor parents routinely demand their share in mid day meal programme and think less about quality education. Teaching and non-teaching staff are more focused on their occupational security, salary and benefits without much concern for the overall change in the primary education sector of the State. It is unfortunate that the children of poor parents are deprived of quality education due to their poor economic status and the children are getting discriminatory treatment in availing education and all other rights in school. Their food, residential facilities, reading materials, dress, health and all other human needs are not taken care of by the Government.
While the Government is allowing rich people to send their children to most privileged private schools, at the same time the Government should seriously provide basic minimum infrastructure and staff to all schools so that the students reading there can have the opportunity to get quality education in a dignified way.
(The writer is a rights activist who can be contacted at ojaabbsr@gmail.com)