Bhubaneswar: Opposition BJP and Congress members Tuesday expressed their concern in the Odisha Assembly over the absence of over 15,000 students in the annual High School Certificate Examination.
Raising the issue during zero hour Leader of Opposition Jayanarayan Mishra slammed the government for the high dropout rate in Odisha.
He said while the government is taking credit for the development of schools through 5T initiatives, several schools do not have adequate numbers of teachers while many students in primary schools cannot even read or write Odia alphabets.
He said the dropout rate in the state is the highest in the country.
Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra also expressed similar views and said the education system in the state is not on strong ground.
However, Arun Sahu (BJD) defended the government and said the opposition members were making the allegation as they failed to understand the 5T initiative.
Sahu said many BJP-ruled states appreciated the 5T initiatives of the Odisha government.
He said 5T is an initiative being used to improve and upgrade schools and undertake infrastructure development works in other sectors.
UNI
