Koderma, Feb.3: India is shining and the NDA government at the Centre is going out of its way to ensure that the shine rubs off the right way. But reality on the ground appears somewhat lacklustre.
Two branches of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya — at Lokai in Koderma and Chakulia in East Singhbhum respectively — will not enroll a single new student this year because they have run out of boarding space. The schools, run by the Union human resource development ministry, have not issued any application forms for the all-India entrance test on February 15.
Deputy director H. P. Shamala of Patna regional office of Navodaya Vidyalaya Society (NVS) said in two districts of Jharkhand, Koderma and Singhbhum (East), the school authorities could not take in students this year because there was no place to accommodate them. “In Koderma, talks are on with the local legislator to construct a temporary building from the MLA fund. If it works out, we can enrol students in summer session, entrance test for which will be held on April 12. But in Singhbhum, prospects of admission are bleak,’’ she said.
In Chakulia, the district administration is yet to provide requisite land to the society for a hostel. The school, set up two years ago, accommodates students up to Class VII. The Patna regional office has sent a formal letter to the NVS headquarters in Delhi for an early construction of a permanent building at Koderma, Shamala added.
The co educational schools with hostel facilities affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) provide education to talented children mostly from the rural areas of the districts concerned. The national education policy, 1986 envisaged setting up of Navodaya Vidyalaya in every district of the country. At present, 496 such schools are operating in the country, including 18 in Jharkhand.
In Jharkhand, the schools are located in Tenughat (Bokaro), Chhatra, Jasidih (Deoghar), Hansdiha (Godda), Massaria Dam (Gumla), Hazaribagh, Lohardaha, Latehar, Singhbhum, Sahebganj, BIT Mesra-(Ranchi), Maithan ( Dhanbad) and Lokai ( Koderma).
The schools admit students in Class VI through open tests conducted at the district level by CBSE.
The Patna regional office of NVS governs the schools of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. A maximum of 80 students can be admitted in Class VI every year. However, in view of the accommodation crunch in some schools, the number has been slashed to 40.
The Koderma branch was set up in 2001 in a temporary government building at Lokai village. The school teaches students up to till class VIII. But as entrance test will not be held this year, Class VI will remain vacant. Hundreds of the students from the districts, mostly from villages, will be deprived of quality education.
Sources said the school was trying to acquire a dilapidated plot near the mica labour welfare hospital in the Karma area. Officials from the Delhi head office and CPWD engineers visited the site last year, but found that the plot was not suitable for a residential school.
