Jajpur: Suspension of admissions in the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) here for the last two years, has hit aspiring teachers hard. Those interested in Certified Teacher (CT) and Bachelor in Education (B.Ed) training courses are not getting the opportunity to do so, sources said Monday. They added that the purpose of creating a new pool of teachers in the district has suffered a blow due to the suspension of admissions. Admissions have been closed as students who had undergone training from the institute are yet to receive placements in any schools as teachers. Their futures are in the dark, sources said.
Interestingly DIET has hostel facilities for 64 girl students, but none for male students. The sources added that new admissions have been stopped as DIET has failed to conduct online examinations for the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, reports of relocating the institute elsewhere have been doing the rounds in the district. This has incensed local residents. Sources said that Jajpur is way behind in education infrastructure in comparison to other districts in Odisha.
Experts had earlier said that officials will have to really work hard to develop the district as an education hub. Jajpur district paints a sorry picture in the field of education. Many of the buildings among the 2012 government schools have developed cracks on the walls. Some are really in a dilapidated state.
Most of these schools fall under the Centre’s ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’ scheme. Sources said that most of the schools do not have hygienic drinking water facilities while some don’t even have toilets. Children are deprived of getting proper education as most schools do not have electricity. Proper development of the body and mind also do not happen as schools lack playgrounds.
Forget all these deficiencies, the shocking fact is that most schools do not have adequate number of teachers. In this backdrop, the decision by DIET to stop admission has surprised many. Earlier demanding redressal of several issues, a case was filed before the Odisha State Human Rights Commission in 2016. The Odisha Primary Education Project Authority (OPEPA) sought details in this regard in 2018. In reply, the District Civil Infrastructure department said that 57 schools do not have toilets for girls while in 32 males and females have to use the same toilets.
Similarly, 20 schools do not have buildings of their own. The project director of OPEPA in a report had harped on the importance of providing hygienic drinking water, separate and functional toilets in schools. The official also said that schools must have regular power supply and all electrical points should have protective covering. The report also talked about the importance of playgrounds in schools.
However, nothing much has really changed since the report was made public in 2018 when contacted, principal of DIET, Nibedita Guru said that admissions have been suspended for the past couple of years due to the outbreak of Covid-19. She assured that new admissions for CT and BEd courses will take place this year.