Scientific experiments to gardening classes: This inclusive school in Odisha is 'happy place' for students

Women health workers of Godibari approached Bandana, the international coordinator of Bangkok-based Global Alliance Against Trafficking of Women, and the latter helped them start the school.
Sabita Patnaik with her students at the Bugin Ha
Sabita Patnaik with her students at the Bugin Ha

It’s six in the morning. There is a nip in the air in Godibari village which is home to a small population of Santhal and Munda tribals on the outskirts of Odisha’s Bhubaneswar.

Siblings Dinesh and Shanti are happily packing their tattered sling bags with books neatly covered with old newspapers to head to their ‘happy zone’: Bugin Ha Siksha Kendra, an open school. In Munda language, Bugin Ha translates to ‘a place of happy people’.

The siblings join other tribal children and listen with rapt attention as their teacher Sabita Patnaik takes a class on Santhal and Munda community festivals.

An hour later, the kids rush to pluck winter vegetables that they have grown in the school backyard. Education at Bugin Ha goes beyond textbook learning, says Sabita, an educational entrepreneur who owns KIDZZ Bloomingdales in Bhubaneswar.

Brainchild of a group of women health workers of Godibari, it was started by social worker Babita Patnaik over a decade ago. Even during the lockdown, when the local school and anganwadi centre shut down, Bugin Ha carried on. Sabita and her volunteers decided to educate the kids about the pandemic.

“We provided the children masks and soaps and taught them the importance of using them to stay safe,” she says. Later they started conducting classes on fundamental English and Maths, and today more than 50 kids are attending them.

In fact, NGOs from neighbouring villages have also shown interest in replicating the model. The school has its gates open for all—both school-going students who seek remedial classes and those out of school. Students come to not just read but also play, sing, dance and learn in the process.

“Even today, children are forced by their parents to help them in agriculture, construction sites and domestic work or very often to take care of the younger siblings. Consequently, they drop out. Bugin Ha was started with an idea to educate such children for free and in an engaging manner,” says Sabita.

The women health workers of Godibari approached Bandana, the international coordinator of Bangkok-based Global Alliance Against Trafficking of Women, and the latter helped them start the school.

Currently, the school caters to students in the age group of three to 16 who are taught in Odia. Along with textbook learning and remedial teaching, children are exposed to dance, art, gardening, jungle safari, creative writing and scientific experiments.

Besides, they are taught about their tribal culture, traditions, language, and even their food. Helping her in the initiative is her husband, Amiya Patnaik, and several young community volunteers. Sabita has no plans for an expansion, but rather aims at spreading the joy of learning among those who come seeking it.

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The New Indian Express
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