BARIPADA: At a time when Government schools are facing acute shortage of teachers, North Orissa University (NOU) has taken an initiative called ‘Teach Mayurbhanj’ which involves student volunteers teaching in educational institutions.
Around 200 volunteers, who are students of B Ed and M Ed of NOU, have come forward to teach at schools without salary under ‘Teach Mayurbhanj’, which was launched recently at the university.
Duryodhan Behera, a volunteer, said the programme was officially launched on February 20 but the teaching drive had commenced from February 1.
As many as 69 schools were covered in the first phase of the programme which culminated on February 28. The next drive will commence shortly, he said. Duryodhan said in the first phase, 69 upper primary and high schools in Morada, Badasahi, Gopabandhunagar, Khunta, Shyamkhunta, Kuliana and Baripada blocks were covered.
He said the initiative was undertaken after the School and Mass Education department and Mayurbhanj district administration gave their consent to it. Md Abdul Rajak, a Class-IX student of Maharaja Krushna Chandra High School, lauded the volunteer teachers. “They covered the course within a few weeks. This will help us prepare well for the upcoming annual examination,” he said.
Headmaster of the school Pragyan Paramita Jena too praised the volunteer teachers. She said the volunteers filled the void created due to absence of teachers in some subjects. Headmaster of Sarat Chandra Vidyapeeth High School SK Khuntia said the efforts of the volunteer teachers will provide students time to revise their syllabus.
Head of Education department of NOU Sameer Kumar Lenka said, “There are not enough teachers in schools. We took the initiative to address the crisis and ensure that this does not affect academics in schools.”
The launch ceremony was presided over by NOU Vice-Chancellor Prof Pradip Kumar Chand in the
presence of prominent educationist Prakash Chandra Agrawal, District Education Officer Dhrubacharan Behera, PG Council chairperson of NOU Sasmita Kar, head of the Education department Prof Samir Kumar Lenka and programme coordinator Ramesh Kumar Parua.