RANCHI: Arun Oraon quit the Indian Police Service with a desire serve the people of his home state Jharkhand as an elected representative. While his wish to get elected to the state legislature still remains unfulfilled, it has not stopped him from serving the people.
The former Punjab cadre IPS officer, who took voluntary retirement in 2014, was disturbed by the poor education standards in government schools and started teaching children at his home. On the request of a student from a nearby village, Oraon started an evening school at Uchari village on the outskirts of Ranchi. Now, a total of 27 such evening schools are being run successfully under the guidance of Oroan in the villages of Ranchi, Gumla and Lohardaga at their respective community centres.
More than 2,000 students are taught by over 200 volunteers, including some retired teachers, without any fee being charged from them. Classes are conducted from 6 to 8.30 in the evening. Local volunteers trained by Oraon not just teach what’s in the syllabus but also impart ‘extra knowledge’ to the students.
According to Oroan, children in the rural areas mostly go to government schools where teachers are usually engaged in non-teaching activities and can’t pay desired attention towards their primary duty. “How can one expect these children to become doctors and engineers when they don’t have even basic knowledge of English, science and mathematics?” he asks.
This is the reason the poor, tribal children living in the rural areas are not able to compete with those studying in private schools, says Oraon. He hopes his initiative will help give a level-playing to them.