SAMBALPUR: In a bid to encourage school enrolment and reduce dropouts, a district-level awareness rally ‘Aasa School Jiba’ was organised in Sambalpur on Sunday.
The rally, held under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, began from Reserve Police Ground at 7 am and culminated at Gangadhar Meher University where a felicitation ceremony was also organised.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Education Minister and Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan said the National Education Policy (NEP) aims to bring every child into the mainstream of education and promote learning in the mother tongue. “Sambalpur has comparatively higher school-going children than other districts, with around 3,000 kids still outside the school system. It is the collective responsibility of society, school authorities and citizens to ensure that no child is deprived of education,” he said.
Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Rabi Narayan Naik stressed the importance of strong educational foundations, likening them to the pillars of a house. “A child who studies well secures a bright future, and a nation with educated children achieves rapid progress,” he said, urging everyone to bring out-of-school children back into classrooms.
The initiative also underscored the need for strengthening foundational literacy and numeracy, reducing dropouts, ensuring inclusive education, and promoting Vocal for Local initiatives for self-reliance.
Students securing A1 grades, those who re-enrolled after dropping out, and NEET qualifier Lija Majhi were felicitated at the event. The rally and felicitation ceremony concluded with a strong message of collective action, reinforcing that universal education is key to building a developed Odisha and India.
Among others, RDC (ND) Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav, Northern Range IG Himanshu Lal, Sambalpur collector Siddheshwar Baliram Bondar, SP Mukesh Bhamoo besides hundreds of students, teachers and parents participated.