By BIRENDRA KUMAR JHANKAR, OP
Balangir: Bidya Bhushan Sanskrit Prathama-Madhyama School in Balangir town has classes from VI to X. The school once had more than 100 students, but the number gradually declined to 12 four years ago. However, not a single student has enrolled in the current academic year, 2026 27, reportedly because of the shortage of teachers.
The problem has persisted for the past two years. The school has been sanctioned five teachers to teach eight subjects: grammar and philosophy, Sanskrit literature, Ayurveda and yoga, Odia mother tongue, mathematics, general science, social science and English. However, only one teacher is currently posted at the school.
As teachers retired one after another, no replacements were made. With posts of teachers lying vacant and no students attending, the school has virtually become defunct. Birendra Kumar Dharua, the lone teacher, is serving as the acting head pandit of the school.
Dharua said no students enrolled this year as parents were apprehensive that classes would not be held in the absence of teachers. The school has five classrooms and an office, but Dharua has no colleague to assist him even with basic tasks such as cleaning. He has to clean the classrooms and office himself after arriving at the school every day.
In the absence of an assistant teacher or peon, he also personally carries official letters and documents to and from the District Education Officer’s (DEO) office. With no student attending classes, the classrooms remain deserted, Dharua said.
The Pratha ma-Madhyama section of the institution covers Classes VI to X and is affiliated with the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha. However, A parent of a former student said the head pandit is also assigned duties related to adult education and other activities.
Students were attending the school in previous years, but as teaching posts gradually fell vacant and no new teachers were appointed, parents became reluctant to enrol their children. Students who previously studied at the school have also shifted to other schools because of the teacher shortage, he said, raising concern about the future of the institution.
George Sanskrit Toll was established in Balangir in 1912. At that time, students were taught Sanskrit literature, grammar, rituals and Ayurveda, among other subjects. After the merger of the princely states, Bidya Bhushan Sanskrit College was established here in 1949.
Since then, the school and college have been functioning under the direct supervision of the government. Not a single student enrolled this year, making it impossible to conduct the Madhyama (matriculation) examination.
Education enthusiasts said the situation was the result of alleged government neglect and administrative mismanagement. Block Education Officer (BEO) Dillip Kumar Joshi said the situation at the Sanskrit school would be investigated and further action would be taken based on the findings.
However, questions are being raised over how the BEO, under whose jurisdiction the school functions, remained unaware that not a single student had enrolled this year.
DEO Sudhanshu Sekhar Mishra said an inquiry would be conducted to determine why enrolment did not take place this year and why the number of students had been declining for several years. Further action will be taken after the inquiry report is received, he said.