Students, guardians protest for re-opening of school shut 2 yrs ago

Jajpur: Students and guardians of Jhatiapada primary school under Salapada gram panchayat of Barachana block staged a dharna before Barachana Block Education Office (BEO) for the second day on Wednesday. They were demanding re-opening of the school which has been closed for the last two years due to low enrolment.

Guardians of students say closing the school would be more inconvenient for their children as they have to cover a km reach another village to continue their primary study. "We do not wish to send our children away for studies because their safety is foremost for us. Hence, we want immediate re-opening of our village school which has been shut for the past two years," said Dushashan Dehury, a student guardian.

He said they will continue the dharana until the lone demand is met. Reports said the State government had established the school a decade back. It shut it due to low enrolment in 2020 and merged it with nearby primary school in Sailipara. Villagers opposed the government decision. Though they had filed a petition in the Odisha High Court challenging closure of the school in 2020; the court had directed authorities to reopen the school. But the School and Mass Education department has not taken any initiative to re-open it.

When contacted, Barachana BEO Harihar Dalei said, "The school was shut down as it had less than 20 students, as per the decision of the government in 2020, and merged with nearby primary school. After the merger, students were enrolled in Sailipada primary school." He said due to poor enrolment of students as many as 43 primary schools were closed in Barachana block.