Hundreds of villagers of Karandaba, Mahuljharan, Katapada and Mahulpada villages of Khariar block in Nuapada district arrived at the office of the BEO (Block Education Officer), Khariar on Wednesday forenoon and staged a demonstration by locking the main gate.
The objective was to express their resentment over the decision of the School and Mass Education Department, Government of Odisha, for closer and merger of the schools in their respective villages.
As per SME Department decision, under the policy of rationalisation and consideration of schools, a total of 265 elementary and secondary schools in Nuapada district are going to be closed and merged. Out of them, 127 primary schools are having less than 20 students, 98 schools are having less than 40 students and located within 1 km distance of another school and the third category consists of 36 upper primary schools having class I to VIII and the UP section enrollment is has less than 20.
"Our villages are located in interior pockets inside forests and there are hilly streams. How can we let our children travel through such hilly and lonely tracks", asked the villagers.
The schools in these villages were established about ten to fifteen years ago.
"We never admitted our children in schools of nearby villages. Even there were no school only because of the distance. Instead, we engaged "Ghinua masters" (literary it means purchased teachers) to teach our children. If the schools are now closed we will start our schools as before," said the villagers.
The primary school at Karandaba village in Lanji Panchayat has 14 students, which is in the closure list. The nearest school now is Lanji, which is 3 km far.
"We ran the school in Karandaba for seven years before the Government established one in our village. We had appointed Prem Barik and Jasobanta Majhi as Ghinua masters and paying them paddy as their remuneration. If the school is closed now, we will start it on our own as before," told Ward Member of Karandaba Supari Majhi, .
Phulmati Majhi of the village informed that the villagers were contributing paddy, rice etc towards the remuneration of the teachers and even running MDM through contribution. "When the Government started MDM, we also started our own feeding programme," she added.
Phulmati was the cook at that time doing the work free of cost for the children. People of other villages have also similar stories to share. The Mahulpada primary school of the same Panchayat has 18 students now. "Our students have to walk for 2 km and cross a stream," informed the people of Mahulpada.
Likewise, the Upper Primary School in Mahuljharan has 21 students from class 1 to 8. "We know, the number is low, but the problem is one has to cover 3 km ghat road in side forest to reach the nearest school at Birighat," the villagers said.
The villagers are very much annoyed, because there was no consultation with them before taking such decision. "Even the School Management Committee (SMC) was not consulted," said the villagers.
"In this background, it is necessary that the Government should revert the decision. Furthermore, we have to see whether the lead schools where the closed school would be merged are equipped to accommodate the burden," said president of Jami Jangal Mukti Andolan Khuturam Sunani.
"We demand withdrawal of the closer and merger policy," the villagers said.