Buguda: At least 20 girl students of Sri Raghunath Swamy Girls’ High School at Balipadar here in Ganjam district were unable to secure admission to higher secondary courses Thursday after they failed to obtain their transfer certificates because the school’s suspended headmistress had not handed over charge before going absent. Headmistress Baijayanti Mala Subudhi was suspended earlier over alleged corruption charges.
According to school authorities and local residents, she neither transferred administrative responsibility to another teacher nor handed over the keys to her locked office, leaving academic records inaccessible. The situation triggered protests by parents at the school, after which they approached the police. Some parents also visited the suspended headmistress’s residence but found it locked. Block Chairperson’s representative K Nila Madhab Achari informed Ganjam Collector V Keerthivasan about the matter.
The Collector directed the District Education Officer to resolve the issue immediately by assigning charge to teacher Sumitra Mishra and initiating police action to open the office and release the students’ certificates. Police, however, said the office lock could not be bro ken without the presence of a magistrate. As a result, the students and their parents returned home without the required certificates, missing the admission process.
Subudhi was suspended after villagers accused her of financial irregularities. She had been directed to report daily to the office of the Asika Block Education Officer during her suspension. Officials said she was absent from both the BEO office and the school. Her petition challenging the suspension was also dismissed by the Orissa High Court.
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