PARIKHITA SAHOO, OP
Boinda: Dilapidated classrooms, unusable toilets and a lack of basic facilities are driving students away from the Government Upper Primary (UP) School at Gunduri near Anandapur under Athamallik block in Anugola district, raising concerns over the future of the institution established more than seven decades ago.
Despite repeated appeals to the authorities, the school continues to struggle with inadequate infrastructure, prompting parents to shift their children to other institutions.
Established in 1953, the school offers classes from Sishu Vatika (pre-primary) to Class VIII.
Its enrolment has declined from 145 students in 2024 to 112 in 2025 and just 94 this year.
Five teachers are responsible for teaching the students, but a shortage of usable classrooms has made the task difficult.
Of the seven classrooms on the premises, three are in a dilapidated and potentially unsafe condition, leaving only four available for regular classes.
Consequently, students from two classes have to share each functional classroom, affecting teaching and learning.
The school’s sanitation facilities are in an equally poor state. Broken toilet pans and a collapsed septic tank have rendered the toilets unusable, forcing students to use open fi elds and a nearby nullah.
Although the school received a grant of Rs1 lakh for toilet repairs in the 2025-26 financial year, the funds were not properly utilised, and the facilities remain unusable.
The absence of a boundary wall allows cattle to enter the premises freely, further compromising the school environment.
The school management committee and villagers have repeatedly approached the block education department and district administration, including the District Collector, but their complaints have yet to yield tangible results.
Headmistress Uttam Nayak said higher authorities had been formally informed about the problems facing the school.
Athamallik Block Education Officer (BEO) Sunil Kumar Pradhan said his office had received complaints about the school’s condition and forwarded them to the district education department.
Efforts were under way to resolve the issues, he added. School management committee president Sasmita Nahak said the committee had appealed to the Chief Minister to improve the school’s surroundings and create a clean, safe and conducive learning environment.
She called for coordinated efforts by the government, administration and school management committee.
Basant Kumar Gadanayak, an educationist and former student, alleged that the government and local public representatives had failed to give adequate attention to the school’s infrastructure.
Although the headmistress and assistant teachers were trying to improve conditions, official indifference continued to hamper the institution’s development, he said.