HYDERABAD: The wait for Odia teachers to aid in the schooling of children rescued as part of Operation Smile, in January, in the villages of Yadadri district, seems to be over.
In a first, two teachers have been appointed at the Kanchal Thanda Primary School, Bommalaramaram mandal in the district to teach 30 children at present.
All the children were admitted to local government schools and are taking classes, but were awaiting Odia teachers to help break the language barrier.
“We need to have one teacher for every 15 children and we will be following the same pattern. Aide et Action, an NGO that has been working with migrant population, has brought in Odia-speaking teachers. Two have reported to duty on Saturday. More will be inducted in the rest of the schools as they come in,” informed R Rohini, district education officer, Yadadri.
Suresh Gutta, regional manager, Aide et Action, Hyderabad informed, “These bridge learning centres do not solve the entire problem as there is no guarantee that the children will come back to the same site in the next migrating season. For now, these teachers have been placed in local schools and will be assisting regular teachers in breaking the language barrier.”
“The objective is to ensure that they are admitted in the local schools in their native states. The long term plan is to set up seasonal hostels for these children so that they need not discontinue their schooling the following year,” added Gutta.