Aradi: The school and mass education department (SME) finally woke up to the sorry state of Nuasahi project primary school at Nuasahi in Shyamsundarpur panchayat under Tihidi block in Bhadrak after Orissa POST carried a report about it January 10.
Taking a serious note of the report, the principal secretary of the school and mass education department issued a directive (letter-124, dated January 15) to the state nodal officer (MDM) as well as additional secretary Gangadhar Sahu to conduct a probe into the matter.
The additional secretary has directed the district education officer Ranjan Kumar Giri January 17, 2018, to look into the matter and submit a report early. The district collector has been apprised of the issue too.
The district education officer has directed the Tihidi block education officer to probe the issue vide letter -525 dated January 17, along with a photocopy of the OP report and submit a report with seven days.
Block education officer directed ABEO Anil Kumar Nayak to make a field visit and probe the issue.
The OP report stated that the project primary school set up in 2012 was being run in miserable state. The school was run from a thatched single classroom that doubled up as kitchen.
40 students used to study in the school when it was established at Nuasahi. However, its strength fell to 30 now.
It was the villagers who made a thatched house, but they could not maintain its upkeep. To make the school run, the headmaster got a one-room shanty built by spending Rs 10,000 from his pocket last year. The shanty is being used both as a classroom and a kitchen.
Children find the atmosphere suffocating while attending classes with smoke coming from kitchen during preparation of MDM. Sadly, the children feel uncomfortable due to swampy surroundings with weeds all around. PNN
