Rayagada: With sanctioned funds to the tune of Rs43 lakh returning, the Centre-sponsored Star project has drawn a blank in Rayagada district as the block education officers (BEOs) failed to provide details on the school dropouts, a report said Saturday.
The Centre had launched the Star project in tribal-dominated Rayagada district which aimed at reducing school dropout rates
The project aimed at identifying the tribal students who leave studies midway, rehabilitating them in residential schools and help them get higher education.
Meanwhile, the scheme has drawn a blank in Rayagada district due to apathetic attitude of the Education department officials. The Centre had sanctioned Rs43 lakh for implementation of the project. However, funds had to return as the BEOs could not provide any input on the number of dropouts. Reports said that the Centre had identified 115 districts of the country as backward areas and named them as aspirational districts to be developed. The project aimed at identifying a minimum of 50 dropout students in each of these aspirational districts where food, education and poverty are a perennial problem and bringing them back to the sphere of high school and vocational education.
Boys and girls within 14 to 16 years of age who left their studies midway due to financial constraints were to be identified and rehabilitated in residential schools free of cost.
The purpose of the scheme is to encourage all children to enroll for qualitative as well as free and compulsory education. The Education department had repeatedly written letters to all BEOs asking them to identify all school dropouts in rural areas.
However, despite repeated reminders none of them could provide details of the dropouts in their respective areas. The Education department had initially planned to start a hostel at the local Gobind Chandra Dev High School by giving admissions to only four dropout students in the first phase.
However, the plan was aborted on the direction of Odisha School Education Programme due to lack of required number of students. As a result, Rs43 lakh sanctioned towards the hostel had to return without being spent on the purpose.
Many students dropout from studies midway and migrate to other districts and out of the state to earn a living by working in hotels, farms, brick kilns and other establishments. This is because such ambitious government schemes continue to remain out of bounds for the villagers, local intelligentsia alleged demanding proper implementation of schemes.
When contacted, district education officer (DEO) Purna Chandra Bariha confirmed the development. He said that the headmasters and BEOs had been repeatedly asked to submit the details on the school dropouts in their respective areas but none of them complied with the order.
Locals have questioned why the DEO is not taking any action against the block level officials if they are not abiding by his order.
PNN