By SIBADATTA SAHOO, OP
Chitrakonda: The sorry state of education in the tribal-dominated Swabhiman Anchal of Malkangiri district stands exposed as the Dabalpa Government Primary School in the remote Ralegada panchayat under Chitrakonda block runs from the verandah of a church in the absence of a building of its own.
The school was established July 5 in 2011 under the ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ‘, and classes began with 10 students on the verandah of a nearby Beersheba church as there was no school building.
However, despite an increase in enrolment over the years, construction of the school building remains incomplete. Villagers said students continue to attend classes in the unsafe church verandah.
The school currently has 43 students from Sishu Vatika through Class V. Headmaster Bibekananda Sagiri and assistant teacher Itishree Behera have been posted there. Without a building, essential records and other materials of the school are stored in the homes of villagers. There is also no kitchen, forcing cook Bati Hantal to prepare midday meals on her home’s verandah.
The school lacks toilet and drinking water facilities. Students have to use a stream flowing near the forest outside the village for sanitation, exposing them to various risks, villagers alleged. About eight dropout children from Kantaguda village, about 5 km from Dabalpahad, have also been enrolled.
However, students from Kantaguda often do not attend school because the route passes through hilly and forested terrain where villagers fear wild animal encounters. Villagers, including the school’s cook Bati, said the lady teacher also remains absent from the school on most days, adding to the problems faced by students.
Villagers and members of the school management committee have repeatedly demanded a permanent solution to the problems at the school. Following their demands, construction of a school building in Dabalpahad village began in 2021 under the Samagra Shiksha Yojana at a cost of more than Rs 13 lakh. However, the work has remained incomplete for nearly five years, committee members Likh Hantal, Jumuri Hantal and Batri Pangi and other villagers alleged.
School authorities and villagers have repeatedly brought the issue to the attention of the Cluster Resources Centre Coordinator (CRCC), Additional Block Education Officer (ABEO), education officials and block administrative officials who visited the school, but no solution has been found, said Sanama Khil, president of the school management committee.
He urged authorities to complete the building immediately and make it operational. CRCC Babula Kumar Nayak, who is in charge of the school, said education and administrative officials are aware that the school has no permanent building and that students attend classes on a church verandah. He said efforts are being made to resolve the issue.
Block Education Officer Gayatri Devi said the department would investigate allegations that teachers are not attending school and take legal or disciplinary action if the charges are found to be true. District Education Officer Chittaranjan Panigrahi said the department had released the required funds for construction of the school building, but he was unaware why the work had stopped.
Junior Engineer Sarat Charchi of the Samagra Shiksha Yojana, who is responsible for the construction, said contractor Shyamal Haldar had initially undertaken the work but left after funding was delayed.
Funds have now been released and a person named Lala from the Janbai area has restarted construction, he said. Charchi said the construction is expected to be completed by September 10.