UMERKOTE: For the last seven years, Ghumardora Primary School in Nabarangpur’s Tentulikhunti block is running from a makeshift shanty as the new building construction has dragged its feet. The school, which has 32 students. Surprisingly, work on the new school building started seven years back at a cost of Rs 14 lakh but is yet to be completed forcing the students to attend classes in the thatched structure.
There are 21 boys and 11 girls enrolled in Class I to V. In absence of a building, they are forced to attend classes in the shanty which has a polythene as its roof. Braving the harsh summers and brutal winters, the kids attend classes on a regular basis. But it is the rainy season which puts them in major inconvenience.
Villagers said during monsoon, water enters the shanty and muddies the floor. As the only solution to the problem, the teachers spread a polythene sheet on the floor and take classes. But it fails to serve the purpose when there is heavy rainfall. The school remains closed on several days during the rainy season.
In such a scenario, basic facilities are a distant dream. The school management committee is bringing water for cooking mid-day meals and drinking purposes from a nearby village which is located 600 metre away from the school.
Blaming the district administration for the school’s condition, villagers of Ghumardora said the State government is spending crores of rupees on primary education. However, many children are unable to avail the benefits due to the apathy of local officials. They requested the administration to complete the school building at the earliest.
Junior engineer of the District Primary Education Programme Hemant Basantia said of the Rs 14 lakh sanctioned for construction of the school building, Rs 12.85 has been deposited in the joint bank account of the president of the school management committee and the headmaster. The work on the building will be completed soon.
Basantia further said Rs 1.85 lakh has been paid to the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Department (RWSS) for provision of drinking water facility in the school. However, RWSS junior engineer Dushmanth Barik refuted Basantia’s claim and said no allocation has been made for the department yet.
District education officer (DEO) Pradeep Nag said work on the school building was halted for two years due to the Covid pandemic. Now, construction work has picked up pace and the building will be ready for use within four weeks.