Bhubaneswar: School and mass education department’s decision to shut down classes 6 and 7 of Govt Primary School in Railway Colony, Mancheswar, in the city has given rise to protest among students and parents, who fear their children’s education will be severely disrupted. They staged a protest in front of the locked classrooms on Thursday.
The school was set up in 1991 on land provided by the railways as a primary school up to class 5. Later, classes from six to ten were added. The school functioned with full strength across all ten classes from class 1 to 10, but under three different managements. However, the govt declared the upper primary classes (6 and 7) as an aided school, while classes 8 to 10 were managed privately. Currently, there are 202 students in classes 1 to 5, 130 students in classes 6 and 7, and 220 students under the high school section of classes 8, 9, and 10.
After two teachers for the upper primary retired in 2024 and one more post remained unfilled, the school now faces an acute shortage of staff, and the govt decided to de-recognise two classes having 130 students and asked these students to shift to nearby schools.
“As per the govt rule, once teachers in an aided school retire, the posts will be abolished, and the school will be de-recognised. Students who are studying in the school will be accommodated in other schools existing within a three km radius. There are two schools within three km, and children should be shifted there,” said Sonamika Ray, district education officer of Khurda.
Sources said, the community around the school comprises largely railway carriage workshop employees and residents from nearby slums and villages like Dhirikuti Sahi, Patrasahi, Dasaraj Basti, Adimata Colony, and Trinath Basti—with a combined population of around 4,000 belonging to the lower strata of society. The students, primarily from Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and other backward classes, would be affected if classes 6 and 7 are shifted elsewhere.
“It is a matter of regret that if the students of classes 6 and 7 are sent to another school, they will face many problems. Safety concerns, economic hardship, and urban traffic congestion are major deterrents for parents to send their children to distant schools. We request the govt to consider it as a special case and allow it to continue on the campus,” said Susant Rout, local MLA in a letter to the department.
While the headmaster of the primary school refused to comment on this, the headmaster of the high school, Gouranga Charan Mohanty, said, “Despite several letters to the govt, no one is listening to our plea of recognising the high school, which has been managed privately for the last 33 years. We have 14 teachers in the high school, and we can manage the two classes of 6 and 7, but the govt must allow us to do this in writing.”