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Odisha Government Playing with Childrens Future

About a couple of months back there was a big outcry of horror and disbelief when

successive incidents of Maoist violence broke out in Sundargarh district. Newspapersflashed every detail in catchy headlines (One more district slips into.) and political

leaders cried hoarse over deteriorating law and order. Now an animated debate is takingplace in social circles on what could be the prime cause of such developments.

Without going too deep into the complex socio-economic factors like mining,

industrialization, tribal displacement, lack of development and so on, one glaring area thatis visible to the naked eye is the total collapse of the education system, particularly in the

rural and tribal areas. The Government schools which cater to 95% of the child populationare simply not functional, never mind the tall claims of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

Undaunted, the govt. goes on adding to the woes of the hapless children.

Sample this:1. During 2008-09 the School & Mass Education Department decided to open High

Schools in all Panchayats having no High School. Accordingly Class VIII wasstarted in 52 UP/ME Schools of Sundargarh, but not a single additional teacher or

infrastructure was added. This year Govt have issued orders to start Class IX in allthe 52 schools. (Order No VIII(A)SME(HM) 1/2009 , Dt. 20/5/2009 by Addl.

Secy., School & Mass Education Deptt.). Sure enough, Class IX was started in 52schools. TILL DATE NO TEACHER OR INFRASTRUCTURE.

2. Again orders were issued to start Class-VIII in as many as 500 U.P.Schools of thedistrict from current academic session in order to include Class VIII in the

elementary section, as in other states. It affects more than 10,000 students.AGAIN NO TEACHERS, NO INFRASTRUCTURE.

3. Normally opening of higher classes in rural schools should be considered awelcome step. But without a single extra teacher or a rupee of investment, it is a

cruel joke being played on our poor rural children by a callous and uncaringgovernment, violating their fundamental rights to education and an equitable

share in state spending.4. The Govt. itself has prescribed certain very essential pre-requisites to be fulfilled

before starting class-VIII, without which recognition is not granted. For example,we need adequate classrooms, Trained Teachers in Science (PCM & CBZ),Classical Teacher, Hindi Teacher, Science laboratory & equipments etc. But when

the govt. does it, no norms apply. A clear case of applying double standards.

.

Annual Examinations are barely 2 months away. This has caused distressand strong resentment among guardians, children and citizens. Sundargarh

Education Society (SES) has attempted to raise the issue at various levels and drawattention of concerned authorities. Primary education in the rural areas is already in

a shambles, more so in this tribal dominated district. We already have chronic problems like shortage / wrongful distribution of teachers, their absenteeism and

non-academic engagement, non-functional community bodies like VEC, PTA, MTAetc, total lack of official monitoring and supervision, and so on. And now this

thoughtless addition of extra classes.

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In various forums of guardians and citizens held at district and block levelswe have:

Appealed to the Collector and other Education officials to move thestate authorities and arrange immediate appointment of 1000

teachers and necessary infrastructure.

Lobbied with peoples representatives of the district for raising theissue at State Govt. level for early solution

Petitioned the National Commission for Protection of ChildRights (NCPCR) for immediate intervention and prevention ofgross violation of poor tribal childrens rights to quality education.

A public awareness campaign (Shiksha Bachao Abhiyan) waslaunched supported by the local print media to build pressure on theauthorities for early remedial steps.

NO SIGN OF ANY SOLUTION OR EVEN OF RECOGNITION OF THE

PROBLEM WAS VISIBLE FROM ANY QUARTERS. SO MUCH FOR THE

GOVERNMENTS CONCERN FOR CHILDRENS FUNDAMENTAL

RIGHT TO EDUCATION.

As the last resort, in view of imminent annual examinations, Sundargarh EducationSociety in consultation with local citizens groups decided to approach the Honble

High Court with all the facts and pray for intervention.

Accordingly all relevant details were collected from the education departmentthrough RTI and a PIL was filed by SES President Janmejoy Patel in the Orissa

High Court ( W.P. (C) 16380 of 2009 dated 30/10/2009) praying for direction tothe State Government to immediately provide adequate number of teachers and

other requirements to all the schools. The petition is pending before the HonbleHigh Court.

Janmejoy Patel, President

Sundargarh Education SocietyAt/PO: Mahesdihi

Dist: Sundargarh-770001M-9937702126

e-mail: sesindia@gmail.com

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