School finds refuge in temple, sans building

DHENKANAL: School is the temple of education. But in Dhenkanal district, a temple has itself become a school. A primary school at Kathagada Sahi in Anand Nagar area has been functioning from a temple for the last three years because its building is yet to be constructed despite allocation of funds. And, the 40 students, mostly tribals, from Class I to III are deprived of learning materials and blackboards.
The temple was first used as a learning centre by the NSS wing of Dhenkanal college, 17 years ago. Then lecturers and NSS volunteers used to teach the tribal communities of Anand Nagar about small-scale saving, forest protection, healthcare and adult literacy. Later, the tribal village and the adjacent forest was adopted by these social workers, who also taught school dropouts. The NSS group was led by social activist Jayant Biswal.
Later, the school functioned under the Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and from 2008 the school was brought under Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan (SSA). But still there is no school building. "I have written to both the district administration and commissioner-cum secretary of school and mass education department for a school building but to no avail," social activist Biswal said.
The school received Rs 6.5 lakh under SSA for construction of its building. Out of this, Rs 5 lakh has been released in first phase to the joint account of school headmistress and Village Education Committee (VEC) in March 2010. The construction work was handed over to the chairman of VEC Dipak Mishra. The construction upto roof-level was supposed to be over in six months but 18 months have passed.
"Students of all classes have to sit together sans classroom. This is demotivating them," said Gitarani Parida, a parent. "We have apprised the district project co-ordinator of SSA and state education authorities about this," she added.
School headmistres Usharani Mishra said she had informed the office of SSA district project coordinator about the school building works.
According to SSA office sources, engineers of SSA have visited the school building site and found that the construction work is worth around Rs 2.85 lakh instead of sanctioned Rs 5 lakh. District project coordinator of SSA Udaya Narayan Dash has directed school headmistress and then VEC chairman on 23rd May, 2011 to deposit the remaining amount within three days. But it has not been done so far. Recently, the district child welfare committee directed the DPC to take action immediately. Dash also said low-grade material has been used for the building and action will be taken soon. Former chairman of VEC Dipak Mishra, who was handling the school building project , declined to comment.