Bhubaneswar: Several schools in the state which were either permanently closed or merged with others during the BJD regime will be reopened based on necessity and official reports on the ground reality, School and Mass Education (S&ME) Minister Nityananada Gond said Tuesday.
Interacting with mediapersons, the minister said, “A number of primary schools were either closed or merged in tribal and remote areas based on faulty reports. As a result, children have to walk long distances to go to school every day. There is a long-standing demand by locals for reopening them. We will certainly reopen such schools which will be eligible for the purpose-based on the departmental report.”
“We have already asked the S&ME secretary to submit a report and on the basis of that, a final call will be taken. We will consider the probable number of students, distances of nearest schools, and local demand. This will help benefit the children to receive elementary education,” Gond said. Taking about BJD government’s 5T initiative regarding transformation of schools, he said, “5T had nothing to do with the development of infrastructure in the state schools. Rather, it was meant to provide sources of earning by the previous government to their party workers. I visited many primary schools and found the quality of work to be utterly sub-standard,” the minister said.
According to sources, the previous government had merged more than 7,400 schools with nearby schools in the last 10 years citing low enrolment and as a step to avoid duplication of infrastructure. The highest number of schools closed were in Gajapati district (604) followed by Mayurbhanj (536), Cuttack (529), and Ganjam (493). Around 50 schools were closed in Puri district between 2013 and 2023.
ARINDAM GANGULY, OP