By Biplab Ranjan Dash, OP
Raurkela: Despite government efforts to improve quality of education and infrastructure in schools, students of the 1970-established Kalyani Devi Government High School at Malgodown in Raurkela continue to face problems owing to a shortage of essential amenities.
The condition of the school has raised questions over the implementation of the government’s school transformation programme taken up spending signifi cant funds. Basic facilities like safe drinking water, adequate classrooms, toilets and drainage system continue to plague classroom teaching and daily administrative works. The school has 765 students from Class I to X, including 372 boys and 393 girls.
It has 10 classrooms and 34 teachers. However, the available classrooms are inadequate for the student strength, creating difficulties in conducting classes. Class IX alone has 117 students, forcing teachers to divide lessons of a single subject into two periods. The school also lacks a proper drinking water facility. While piped water has been provided to several other schools, students here remain deprived of the essential facility.
A drinking water-cooling machine has also remained defunct for months due to lack of maintenance. Although separate toilets are available for boys and girls, their condition is poor. The flooring has deteriorated and requires repairs. The most serious problem is drainage.
Absence of a proper drainage system around the school leads to waterlogging even after light rain. Rainwater enters classrooms and the office, disrupting teaching and routine administrative work. Movement of students also becomes difficult during the rainy season.
According to information available from the Education department, Kalyani Devi Government High School received government grants of Rs 2,80,540 in the 2024-25 financial year and Rs 1,75,300 in 2025-26 fiscal year. In addition, the school had received substantial funds under the 5T school transformation programme implemented by the previous government.
Despite receiving these funds, the school’s basic problems remain unresolved. There is also no information available on how the funds received during the past two years were spent. Headmistress Namita Dash said local legislator and senior departmental officials have been informed about various problems at the school. However, the issues have not been permanently resolved.
School management committee president Sachidevi Paramanik said the local MLA and departmental authorities have been informed about problems related to the school’s drainage system, classrooms and other infrastructure. She expressed hope that development work would be undertaken soon. Block Education Officer (BEO) Suprabhat Behera said the drainage problem would be brought to the attention of the Rourkela Municipal Corporation. He said necessary steps would also be taken to bring permanent solutions to the school’s other infrastructure-related problems.