Joda: The people of Joda in Keonjhar district fear that the DAV Public School here run by a mining company would be closed. The guardians of the students are worried about the future of their wards and voiced their concern to the media Monday.
Guardians Chitta Ranjan Mohanty, Manas Ranajan Mohapatra, Purusottam Podar, Hritik Kumar Burma, Upendra Mohanty, Pranab Mohanty and Subrat Mahalik said the school started functioning in 2013 under the management of a mining firm.
The CBSE-affiliated school has 546 students studying from Class I to X. The students of the six panchayats of Jalhari, Jurudi, Jajanaga, Badda, Palasa and Kalimati depend on it as they get quality education for reasonable fees.
The lease of the mining firm that runs the school is going to expire March 2010.
Keeping this in mind, the school authorities issued a notice September 21, 2018, denying admission and readmission to students after March 2019. The guardians were told to make alternative arrangements for their wards.
This left the guardians worried about their wards. They pointed out that there were no English medium schools in the area and the nearest one is 12 km away from Joda. The parents said they cannot afford to send their children to a school 12-km away.
Principal Nilakantha Rout said the mining firm is not sure whether it will get its lease renewed. He said the guardians must approach the district administration.
The guardians will submit a memorandum to the Collector regarding this soon.
PNN