Absenteeism Row: Odisha’s school education at crossroads

Odisha’s school education sector is passing through a critical phase that warrants much more than a routine redressal approach. 

Absenteeism Row: Odisha’s school education at crossroads

A video clip is doing rounds on social media showing a spirited youth asking how learning "(A+B)square = Asquare+2ab+Bsquare" was going to equip him in life; how it would make his life easier in grocery shop or while buying vegetables or how it would help him in married life or how well off it would make when he becomes a father. If the formula wasn’t of any help in these situations why, he was asking with consternation, was he being asked to memorise it in school. There seems to be justification in what he says. He represents a huge number of students in the tribal sub-plan area of Odisha where schooling in its present state has very limited appeal. Media men have reported their experience of students demonstrating huge academic deficits where students studying in class seven or eight would not be able to count numbers if you asked them to count numbers, say, between 17 and 94 and of students in class eight or nine who would not be able to say what the whole square of A+B is equal to. For thousands, a government school does not open any new world of opportunities nor does the quality of teaching, the environment of the school or available facilities sustain the interest of many students. 

State of school education in Odisha continues to remain a matter of serious concern. The sector is afflicted with problems like serious shortage of teachers and severe deficit in infrastructure. These deficiencies are more acute in underdeveloped regions of the state.