Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, July 9: A whopping 4,910 habitations in 22 Left Wing Extremis-hit (LWE) districts in the state do not have schools to provide basic education. It was revealed in a document of the school and mass education department which was submitted to the home department recently.
According to the report, the state government has opened 27,291 primary and 15,970 upper primary schools in 69,088 habitations in these districts out of which 7,760 primary and 9,609 upper primary schools were opened under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
“After opening of these schools, there are still 2,871 and 2,039 school-less habitations at primary and upper primary (UP) levels respectively. These habitations are not eligible for opening of primary and upper primary schools as per the state norm (25 children and 1 km distance in case of a primary and 3 km distance in case of an upper primary school),” it said.
There are 2,222 habitations in Maoist-affected Malkangiri district. However, only 1,300 elementary schools are there in the district. A total of 112 habitations do not have primary schools while 132 habitations do not have UP schools, the report said.
These habitations which do not have primary and UP schools are not eligible for opening of schools as per the state norms, it clarified.
Besides, the department has constructed only three residential hostels for SC, ST students in the Maoist-hit districts. It also provided seasonal hostel facilities to 7,095 children to cater to the education need of migrant children. For dropout students, the government has set up 182 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs), out of which 178 schools cater to the education need of dropout girls at upper primary level.
Out of 71,323 sanctioned posts under SSA, 65,437 posts have been filled up and the recruitment process is still on to fill up the balance 5,886 posts of teachers in the 22 LWE-affected districts. The state government is providing multi-lingual education in the mother tongue of tribal children in 1,466 schools, it stated.