Berhampur: A 112-year-old school in the silk city, showed a stark departure from norm when it did not celebrate Children’s Day this year and defaulted its century old tradition.
Sishu Diwas or Children’s Day has been celebrated in the school since its inception for the strong reason that it has been named after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Independent India, in whose memory the Children’s Day is observed nationwide.
During the British rule, Berhmapur was under Madras Presidency and Berhampur Municipal Council was formed in 1867. The administration established nine high schools, 42 primary schools and some hospitals.
Chacha Nehru Project Upper Primary School is one of those educational institutions, established in 1906. The school has been observing Children’s Day since its inception up till 2017.
The special day is also observed as the school’s foundation day. Children who emerge winners in various competitions are felicitated during the event.
However, the institution this year gave Children’s Day celebration a miss, causing dissatisfaction among students and parents.
The institution was first founded as primary school and later it was upgraded to upper primary and UGME School.
The government took over this British-era institution on the occasion of Guru Diwas September 5, 1989 and the district Sarva Siksha Abhiyan gave it a facelift by adding several classrooms to the existing ones.
Chacha Nehru Project Upper Primary School was one of the most popular schools on the area and parents would make queues of beeline to admit their children at this institution.
Many of its alumni have established themselves in the fields including politics, education, health and business.The institution’s yesteryear teachers such as late Dinabandhu Jena and late Binod Bihari Bisoi were the recipients of national award from the President.
The establishment of new English medium and other private educational institutions however has taken a toll on this school.
Its strength, which once soared more than 1200, has drastically come down to 250.Though the government has provided computers to this school years ago, they are left unused because there is no computer teacher in the school to put the machine to use.
Currently nine female teachers and a male teacher are managing the once renowned school that failed to celebrate its foundation day.
PNN