By SUBASA CHANDRA PADHY, OP
Brahmapur: Dilapidated classrooms, a lack of safe drinking water and a severe staff crunch plague many schools in Brahmapur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) area, with Balbadi Primary School standing as a stark example of government apathy toward primary education.
Balbadi Primary School, one of the oldest schools in Brahmapur, comes under Goilundi cluster and has been struggling with a lack of basic facilities. Established in 1970 at Sebak Nagar in Brahmapur, the 56-year-old school provides education from Class I to Class V.
It currently has 36 students, but lacks adequate space to accommodate them. Though the school has six classrooms, all of them are in dilapidated condition. While some students attend classes in the school verandah, others are forced to sit in the unsafe classrooms. The school has only two teachers and it lacks adequate drinking water facilities and a proper toilet.
Poor infrastructure has affected the learning environment and deprived the students of access to basic educational facilities. With inadequate classroom space, parents are being forced to enrol their children in private schools located farther away.
The toilet on the school premises is in abysmal condition and has become unusable. However, neither has it been repaired nor has a new one been constructed in its place. Residents and members of the school management committee have repeatedly raised the issues with the concerned authorities, but no significant improvement has been made.
As a result, student enrolment has been declining year by year. Although the school has undergone transformation under a government initiative, students have got precious little. Materials provided as part of the transformation project have also remained unused. Dibakar Pati, a concerned parent, said he does not feel it safe to send his children to the school.
Block Education Officer (BEO) Debendra Behera said the authorities have been informed about the problems. He said steps are expected to be taken soon to address the issues. School Management Committee (SMC) president Santoshi Singh said more than 60 students used to study at the school earlier, but the enrollment has now dropped to 36. She said the school’s infrastructure needs urgent improvement. The school receives more than Rs 40,000 annually as grant.
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However, no grant was received during the 2023 and 2024 academic years due to the school merger, creating difficulties in its management, Singh said.
The school also lacks a proper toilet for students, while the existing toilet has deteriorated and is no longer usable. Due to a shortage of classrooms, equipment received under various educational programmes has been stored in a single classroom. Most of the equipment has deteriorated because it could not be put to use, Singh said.
