Just a thatched roof for this primary school

BARIPADA:  A thatched roof is all that Sirshapal New Primary School in Moroda block here can boast of. Sans walls, blackboards and study materials, as many as 60 students are taught here by two teachers. And this has been the case since 2002. The State Government’s benefits under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) have clearly not reached the school that does not have a permanent building. Despite repeated appeals from the locals, neither the district administration nor  the elected representatives have given any attention towards upgrading the school structure even as MLA and MP LAD funds are lying unspent in the district. At present when the exams are on, the students are packed under the thatched roof. Headmistress Pravati Behera said the school is not even connected with an all- weather road. Besides the boundary and walls, there is no drinking water facility. “Nobody can say that this is a school unless one sees children here. One can gauge the situation during the monsoon,” she said. While the cook prepares the mid-day meals in the open, lack of infrastructure and hygiene have affected education in the school. “Students study and eat at the same place due to lack of space. We can do our best to manage the affairs in this limited space,” she said. While the headmistress carries school registers and documents to her house daily, school furniture and grocery for mid-day meals and cooking equipment are kept in a villager’s house.  Sources said in the absence of land, the school building is yet to come up. Though a senior citizen of Sirshapal Shyamsundar Majhi had voluntarily donated land for this purpose, it could not be transferred to the school because he belonged to ST and as per the New Land Act, ST land cannot be registered in any school’s name.The district administration had sanctioned Rs 50,000 for building and Rs  27,000 for infrastructure of the school in 2007 but it could not be utilised due to non-availability of land. The funds were surrendered in 2009. A local leader Romai Marandi said school building is a long-standing demand of Sirshapal village. “I have drawn the attention of BDO and the District Collector but no tangible step has been taken yet,” she said.  DPC of SSA Digantar Routray said he would personally visit the school soon and take measures as per government norms.