Despite tall claims by the Odisha government to raise standards of schools and set up smart classes, Uduliaguda primary school under Jharigaon block in Nabarangpur continues to run from an unsafe FCI godown sans basic amenities.
According to sources, set up in 2014, the school has 40 students from Class I to Class V. The school was being run from the house of a school committee member in the absence of its own building. Later, it was shifted to the FCI godown three years back.
That’s not all. Two teachers have been posted to impart education to 40 students. Besides, the school does not have a toilet forcing students and teachers to have to face embarrassing situations. Though the government had allocated money for the new school building,construction of the building is yet to be completed.
Meanwhile, parents of students allege that their kids are being deprived of quality education due to shortage of teachers and lack of school building. The concerned authorities meanwhile attributed the delay in construction of school to a land dispute.
Chandra Mohini, a parent, said, “Construction of a school building is yet to be completed though it was started in 2014. As a result, students are being taught in an FCI godown which lies in a dilapidated condition.”
A school student said, “Teachers are facing lots of problems to teach us in the absence of school building.”
Sureswari Mohapatra, school headmistress, said, “The school was inaugurated on June 6, 2014. Earlier, it was being run from a committee member’s house. After school teachers and villagers approached the block development officer (BDO) demanding a building for the school, the BDO ordered the school to shift to the FCI godown.”
Shiva Shankar Mandal, additional block development officer, said “It’s true that school is being run from an FCI godown due to a land dispute at the place where school was supposed to be constructed. We would try to sort out the dispute and complete its construction work.”