SUBRAT KUMAR NAYAK, OP
Talabasta: Despite crores of rupees being spent to improve primary education in rural areas, poor infrastructure continues to affect students. The Bidyadharpur Government Primary School at Bidyadharpur village in Talabasta panchayat under Damapada block of Kataka district is a case in this point.
The campus remains waterlogged for nearly four months every year during the rainy season. Without a permanent boundary wall, the school verandah has also turned into a shelter for stray cattle and bulls, forcing students and staff to clean cow dung every morning before classes.
Residents alleged that the premises have become a gathering place for alcoholics in the evening, with drinking of liquor and feasting reportedly taking place, raising safety concerns. Headmaster Shiva Prasanna Sahu said the school was established February 15, 1982. More than 250 students once attended the school, but enrolment has gradually declined to 118 because of various problems plaguing the school.
An Anganwadi centre also operates on the school premises. Though the school opens at 10am, teachers and staff spend nearly an hour removing cow dung from the verandah, cleaning and washing the area. As a result, the morning prayer and first two classes are often disrupted.
Bapi Sarkar, a former student and member of the school management committee, said stray cattle enter the premises and dirty the verandah because the school lacks a boundary wall. Parents from Arapur, Krushnapali and Bidyadharpur villages have repeatedly approached the local legislator, Block Education Officer, Block Development Officer and Chairman, but no action has been taken and there has been no progress on the work, said Sarkar. Sisir Kumar Das, former president of the school management committee, said the school had received a grant of Rs 2.50 lakh about 18 months ago with the legislator’s approval. However, the contractor stopped work midway because of a dispute. As a result, the foundation trenches dug for the boundary wall have been fi lled with rainwater and soil. Chatters were abuzz that the sand, stone chips and cement brought for boundary wall construction has been used by the contractor in other works.
There are six children in the Anganwadi centre and 24 students enrolled in the newly established Shishu Vatika on the school premises. Mamali Sahu, a worker at the Shishu Vatika, said the absence of a boundary wall means much of the day is spent keeping a watch over the children. During rain, cooks cut vegetables for the midday meals in the open because the school kitchen has no verandah.
Teacher Gagan Kumar Behera said the new school committee should construct a verandah with a tin or asbestos roof beside the kitchen. Although the school has received a grant of more than Rs 1 lakh for new toilets, the separate toilets for boys and girls are in poor and dilapidated condition.
Students rely on tubewell water for drinking, but there is no water purifier. Parents are particularly concerned about the lack of a boundary wall around the school, saying they consider the premises unsafe and are enrolling their children elsewhere, said former student Akshaya Kumar Behera. Alok Kumar Sahu, nominee of Talabasta’s sarpanch, declined to comment. When contacted, Assistant Block Education Officer Prafulla Kumar Behera said a new BEO would join within a day or two and declined to comment further.
