MALKANGIRI: Presenting a grim picture of the education system in tribal-dominated Malkangiri district, a school in Khairput block here is functioning only on paper without a building of its own.The upper primary school at Kutnipada village in Badadural panchayat is literally functioning under the open sky since the last over nine years with no permanent structure whatsoever.
Sources said earlier, the school was running from a tin-roofed house. But the temporary structure suffered damages during cyclone Hudhud in 2014. Since then, the students are attending classes in the open or under trees.Around 20 students are enrolled in the school which has classes from I to VIII. Two teachers are also posted at the school.
Villagers alleged that in absence of a building, the students often skip classes. Instead of attending school, the children prefer collecting mahua flowers and help their parents in daily household chores. Some of them are also engaged in stone crushing.
“We have requested the administration to construct a school building several times in the past. However, all our pleas have fallen on deaf ears,” they claimed. Besides, there is no road to the school at Kutnipadar. Students have to walk at least eight km to reach the school.
Contacted, block education officer (BEO) of Khairput Sashi Bhusan Mishra said, “I have brought the matter to the notice of the district education officer.”He further said like Kutnipadar, there are four to five other schools in the block including at Kichipada and Agabdeda which do not have a building of their own.“Tenders have been floated for construction of the school buildings. But there are no bidders due to absence of roads to the schools,” the BEO added.