SAMBALPUR: In many remote villages of Sambalpur district where even primary education is a dream, a youth Abinash Mishra is bridging the teaching-learning gap by setting up ‘Sikhya Ra Chatasali’ with his own resources.
In the last eight months, 30-year-old Mishra has adopted 11 villages of the district where he is providing tuition to poor students free of cost. He has roped in youths of these villages who have at least completed their matriculation to teach the children.
Mishra, who was employed as a range coordinator in Sambalpur forest division for a year till May this year, witnessed the poor education scenario in the villages during his field visits. “At almost every village that I visited, I came across children from poor families working along with their parents who are daily labourers, even in beedi rolling units. Although they were enrolled in government schools in their villages, they never attended classes,” he said.
In February this year during one such field trip, he came in contact with Maninit Suren, a girl from Sahajkulia village who completed her graduation and was preparing for higher degree. She shared the same concern and wanted to educate children of her village. The two then decided to start a ‘Chatasali’ in Sahajkulia.
“The decision to open the chatasali in the village needed a lot of cajoling the locals because they thought we are doing this for some vested interest. Maninit faced criticism from her own people,” said Mishra who quit his job to open an educational institute AIMS in Sambalpur.
He set up the first study centre at Maninit’s house in the village and paid her a small incentive to teach the children. Within two months, all the 21 children enrolled in the local school at Sahajkulia started coming to the chatasali. Eventually, they resumed schooling.
Happy with the outcome, Mishra tried to extend his initiative to more such villages and Maninit connected him to educated youths in other places nearby. After Sahajkulia, he launched the chatasali initiative in 10 other villages including Goinpura, Baidinga,Sitlenpali, Amkuni, Hotapal, Subanpur, Jamtikra, Badmal, Bhimkhoj and Gumloi.
All of these villages have their nearest schools located 5 to 10 kms away. At present, as many as 219 students from nursery to Class 10 are coming to these chatasalis and continuing their education. He also managed to find educators from the same villages who have qualifications from matriculation to post graduation. These educators are either teaching the children at their own houses or at the village club house. And Mishra pays them Rs 2,000 each.
Apart from his own savings that he uses to pay incentives to the educators and buy study materials, Mishra’s initiative is funded by his wife who is employed with the police department and family members. He personally monitors each school every day. He has taught the educators to use NoteCam app through which they send him class pictures with coordinates, date and time of classes every day through which he keeps a track on the attendance in each chatasali. Mishra has identified 24 more villages in the district where he plans to open the chatasalis and is looking for patrons. For his initiative, he has been felicitated by the Governor of Odisha.