BHUBANESWAR: Teachers of a government high school in the state capital Bhubaneswar allegedly ‘schemed’ to prevent the merger of the five-decade-old institution after its enrolment plunged drastically. Not only did they manage to source funds from the government but also successfully evaded the education department’s attention. They even built a ‘hostel’ on their own. Unbelievable but true.
The Government High School at Unit-II in the city was abolished while the School and Mass Education department notified the transfer of the school employees. It even ordered the shifting of the students to other schools following allegations of large-scale corruption in the institution and violation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
The department notified the closure of the school on Friday and issued transfer certificates to the teachers. While some SC/ST students were accommodated in other schools being run by the ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department in Khurda district, others were allowed to take admission in schools in their respective districts.
The school, which was established in 1969, offered education from Class VI to X and had five teachers, two PETs apart from the headmistress. However, it had only 35 students on the rolls for all five grades in the current academic session.
When the Secretary of the School and Mass Education Department Aswathy S paid a surprise visit to the school a fortnight back, she found only one student present in the entire school while the rest were absent. Subsequent investigations brought to the fore the enrollment scam.
The school’s enrollment had remained almost the same in the past two academic years. Government norms mandate the merger of schools having fewer than 25 students but the high school continued to brazen it out and operated for many years with a handful of students, mostly from SC and ST communities, due to the alleged nexus between school authorities and a few department officials.
Sources said although the district education office had twice in the past reported low enrollment in the school, its merger was never considered for reasons unknown. Of the 35 students, only five were from the neighbourhood and the rest were brought in from different parts of Khurda, Mayurbhanj, Kandhamal and Gajapati districts - allegedly by the teachers. This was in violation of the RTE Act which states that every child aged six to 14 years shall have the right to free and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school.
Although official records state that the school had no hostel, except for the five local students, the rest were put up in a hostel which was set up on the school campus allegedly by the teachers under the knowledge of headmistress Bijaylaxmi Pal.
Sources in the district education office said following some differences over the payment of hostel fees between the parents and school teachers recently, a complaint was lodged by the former to the department. This prompted the Secretary to pay a visit.
Despite the low enrollment, the school continued to be renovated with lakhs of rupees sanctioned under the government’s transformation programme. School and Mass Education Minister Samir Dash said stringent action will be taken against everybody involved in the corruption. “Funds were provided to the school under other schemes for renovation and not a transformation programme. However, we are investigating all the allegations,” he said.