Naugaon (Jagatsinghpur): Resentment brewed high among the residents of Dhuanpada village under Naugaon block in this district after the administration failed to accommodate their children in other schools after the closure of the local primary school.
With no option left, the villagers were forced to engage private tutors to educate their children.
According to reports, the district administration closed the Dhuanpada Primary School due to poor students’ strength and lack of attendance and transferred the teacher to other schools.
However, the administration has failed to accommodate the students in other schools even after a month now.
Villagers alleged that despite several protests, the village school which had more than 20 students was closed. Without hearing their grievances, the administration transferred two teachers of the school.
Now, the students of the village are left in lurch. The nearest school, Korua Upper Primary School is 1.5km away from the village. Villagers are reluctant to send their children to the UP school as it is too far and the road condition is very bad.
Similar is the fate of 162 primary schools in the district which will be closed very soon due to lack of students.
“If schools are closed in a remote place, alternative arrangements have to be made with transport facility to ensure these students reach safe. Who will be responsible if something happens to our children,” a local said.
The two private teachers, Mihina Nayak and Chittaranjan Swain, who are teaching the students at Dhuanpada, expressed their satisfaction over their service, and said, “villagers have assured to provide monthly remuneration for our work”.
Meanwhile, the villagers sought the intervention of higher officials to reconsider their decision.
Ganeswer Sethi, Naugaon Block Education Officer (BEO) said during survey, the attendance of the school was found to be poor following which it was decided to close the school.
PNN