Students at Desharakhi government primary school, which lies in neglect. Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 26: Desharakhi government primary school, which was established in 1973, once catered to the needs of over 500 students in the Gajapatinagar locality.

Today, tucked in the by-lanes of Gajapatinagar and struggling with a total of 10 students and two teachers, the school has met the fate of hundreds of similar government schools that are losing their sheen.

This school was modelled out of a horse stable meant for Sainik School to keep its horses. Once the horses were moved to the OUAT campus, Sainik School authorities had joined hands with the state government to convert it into a primary school. Without students, teachers, electricity and sanitation facilities the school appears to be returning back to its good old stable days.

“This wasn’t always the case. Two years ago, the school had over 500 students from nearby areas, including three slums,” said local resident Trimurti Panda.

“Things changed after a boundary wall was erected for the new government colony blocking all the three nearby slums,” said school headmaster Anil Kumar Pradhan

“Students lost access to the school and got diverted to other schools. Children from this slums now travel a distance of two kilometres to reach the Railway primary school,” he said.

The situation became worse after midday meals were stopped two years ago.

“The self-help group (SHG) that used to supply the meals was not interested in cooking for such a small number of students and was irregular. Soon it pulled out.

“Since then, we have been trying to find an SHG to hand out the responsibility but none is interested,” said headmaster Pradhan.

Although the school register shows 50 students, only 10 of them turn up for classes — eight girls and two boys.

“The remaining students have registered for admission here but are now attending classes in other schools,” the headmaster said.

Sarojini Hembrum, the lone student in Class V, said she is yet to get her textbooks. “I know that there is a provision of lunch for other schools but I come here as it’s close to the where place I work,” said Sarojini, who works as a maid in one of the houses in the colony. “I did not know that they don’t give food here as I only started coming this year. I will change to a different school next year,” said Biridi Prusty, one of the two students in Class III. The only teacher, Giribala Kar, who teaches all subjects in all the classes, was out of school attending a teachers’ training programme.

“We had three teachers, two of whom retired in July,” said the headmaster.

“A lot will change if we can reintroduce mid day meals,” he said hopefully.

Bhubaneswar: Established in 1973, the Desharakhi government primary school once catered to the needs of over 500 students in the Gajapatinagar locality.

Today, struggling with a total of 10 students and two teachers, the school has met the fate of hundreds of similar government schools that are losing their sheen.

Interestingly, this school was modelled out of a horse stable meant for the sainik school to keep its horses.

However once the horses were moved to the OUAT campus, the sainaik school authorities had joined hands with the state government to convert it into a primary school.

Sans students, sans teachers, sans electricity and sans sanitation facilities the school very much appears to be returning back to its good old stable days.

“This wasn’t always the case. Two years ago the school beamed with over 500 students from the nearby areas including three slums,” says Trimurti Panda, a local.

“Things changed after a boundary wall was erected for the new government colony blocking all the three nearby slums, says school headmaster Anil Kumar Pradhan.

“Students lost access to the school and got diverted to other schools. Children form this slums now travel a distance if two kms to reach the Railway primary school,” he said

The situation worsened after the midday meals were stopped two years ago. “The SHG that used to supply the meals was not interested to cook for such a small number of students and was irregular in its ctivities. Subsequently it pulled out. We have since been trying to find an SHG to hand out the responsibility but none is interested,” informed Pradhan the headmaster of the school.

Although the school register shows a total of 50 students, only ten turn up-eight girls and two boys.

“The remaining students , although have registered for admission here are now attending classes in other schools,” informed the headmaster.

Sarojini Hembrum, the lone student in class five says she is yet to get her text books. “I know that there is a provision of lunch for other schools but I come here as its close to the palce I work,” said Sarojini who works as a maid in one of the houses in the colony.

“I did not know that they did not give food here as I started coming this year only. I will change to a different school next year,” says Biridi Prusty, one of the two students in class 3.

The only teacher Giribala Kar who teaches all the subjects in all the classes was out of school attending a teachers training programme. “We had three teachers, two of who retired in July,” informed the Headmaster

“A lot will change if we can reintroduce the mid day meals,” hoped he.