SAMBALPUR: Though three Ekalavya Model Residential Schools were proposed to be set up in the district in 2021 until now the construction has commenced only in Jujumura while no significant progress has been seen for the other two schools in the Jamankira and Bamra blocks of the district.
The EMRSs are established with the objective to impart quality education to ST children in remote areas in order to enable them to avail higher and professional education to get employment in various sectors. The schools focus not only on academic education but on the all-round development of the students. Each school caters to students from Class VI to XII and follows the CBSE curriculum. The schools are established in blocks, where more than 50 per cent of the population belongs to the ST category.
While currently, only one such school is functional in the tribal-dominated Kuchinda block of the district, three more schools were proposed for Jamankira, Bamra and Jujumura blocks in 2021, inhabited by a large tribal population. However, even after around two years, the construction of schools in Jamankira and Bamra has not proceeded.
Sambalpur district welfare officer (DWO), Bhagirathi Patel said, the responsibility for construction lies with the National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. “The construction of the school building at Bamra block has been entrusted to a public sector enterprise, WAPCOS, which has awarded the work to another agency.
I discussed with the site engineer about the current status of the work. Hopefully, the work on the building will begin within the next one or two months,” said Patel, adding, for the school building at Jamankira, necessary forest clearance is pending.
Patel, however, said, the work on the school building at the Jujumura is on and we hope the school will be functional from the next academic session.