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Odisha: Villagers Lock School Gates Over Shortage Of Mid-Day Meals & Teaching Staff
Writer: Navneet Nishant
I am a Media Student currently pursuing Master's in Mass Communication From Central University Of Jharkhand, I have done my previous internship In Jharkhand state livelihood promotion society as KMC intern.
Odisha, 3 Feb 2023 6:38 AM GMT
Editor : Jayali Wavhal |
She writes about gender issues, human interest, and environment.
Creatives : Jayali Wavhal
She writes about gender issues, human interest, and environment.
For the past 18 months, students at Dongriguda Government High School have been eating their mid-day meals at Rajpur Primary School, which is around 2 kilometres away. Students have thus been trekking for four kilometres every day to avail their mid-day meals.
For the past three days, locals in Odisha's Umerkote block of Nabarangpur have closed a high school over issues with midday meals (MDM) and teacher hiring. Rajpur villagers locked the main entrance to Dongriguda Government High School on Sunday (January 2). Even though the agitators and the neighbourhood block education officer (BEO) talked with the protestors on Tuesday, the standoff continued.
Four Kilometre Hike For Mid-Day Meal
For the past 18 months, students at Dongriguda Government High School have been eating their mid-day meals at Rajpur Primary School, which is around 2 kilometres away. A farmer named Roti Gond stated, "Students are facing a lot of difficulties in having their noon meals. They have to trek four km every day for the MDM.”
According to sources, the local administration has previously attempted to unite the two institutions. However, the Rajpur people were against the idea; therefore, it was impossible. Later, it was determined that 117 students from Classes VI through VIII at Dongriguda High School would take their lunches at Rajpur Primary School until the matter was handled.
Shortage Of Teaching Staff
Aside from this, the kids at Dongriguda High School need more qualified teachers. Tula Bhotra, a different villager, claimed that the school had gone without a permanent headmaster for a few years. Recently two teachers were transferred from the school. He claimed that children would not receive a high-quality education without teachers, reported The New Indian Express.
The Block Education Officer (BEO), Bikash Sarkar, claimed to have informed the district education officer (DEO) of the situation. Efforts are being made to calm the angry people and open the school.
A few weeks ago, a similar case was reported from the Northern part of the state where the students from Sogarapasi Upper Primary School in Dhenkanal district faced a shortage of teachers. Such cases force the children to drop out of school and look out for other opportunities.
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