By ASHOK KUMAR PARIDA, OP
Korukonda: Children of Bataguda Government Primary School in Malkangiri district are forced to take classes on the verandah of a community centre as the school has no building of its own.
The school, located in the remote Bayapada Ghat area under Nakamamudi gram panchayat of Korukonda block, has been functioning from the verandah of a community centre belonging to the Didayi community for several years. The school’s old building has collapsed and the site is now being used for cultivation, leaving the students without a permanent classroom.
A total of 25 students from Shishu Vatika to Class V are currently enrolled in the school. Two teachers, including a woman teacher, have been deployed to teach them. However, the lack of basic infrastructure has made teaching difficult, particularly during the monsoon. Rain and strong winds often disrupt classes on the verandah.
Students from different classes, including those attending Shishu Vatika, have to sit together for lessons. The school also lacks toilet and drinking water facilities. Students reportedly collect water from a stream near a check dam for drinking.
In the absence of toilets, they are forced to go outside to relieve themselves, raising safety concerns. As there is no facility to prepare the midday meal at the school, the cook prepares the meal at home and brings it to the community centre, where it is served to the students. The difficult conditions have raised concerns among residents over the education of children in the remote tribal village.
They have urged the district administration and the Education Department to construct a permanent school building at the earliest. The headmaster said senior officials had been informed repeatedly about the school’s infrastructure problems and that construction of a permanent building was urgently required.
Malkangiri District Education Officer (DEO) Chittaranjan Panigrahi said tenders had earlier been invited three to four times under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan for construction of the school building, but no contractor participated because of the school’s remote location.
He said Rs 10 lakh had now been sanctioned for construction of a building under the Setu scheme. The school building would be constructed under the scheme at the earliest, Panigrahi said.