Baripada: Schoolchildren are taking it on themselves to make competent authorities aware of their problems.

On Friday, 100 students - both boys and girls - of SSD High School of Shyamakhunta block walked to the district collector's office around 18km away to air their grievances. The pupils of Karanjia Girls' High School came to the sub collector's office the same day with their grievances.

Baripada additional district magistrate Gangadhar Nayak said SSD High School headmaster Himanshu Sekhar Patnaik had been placed under suspension as a preliminary step after hearing the grievances of the students. The students alleged that there was no hostel superintendent although the school had three separate hostels accommodating 250 students and the food served to them was sub-standard. They also complained that the headmaster behaved inappropriately with the female students.

Nayak said the students were sent back to their schools after hearing their grievances.

Block education officer Ayodhyanath Mahapatra said the SSD High School at Balidiha has been upgraded to a co-education high school. With 475 students (both hostel boarders and day scholars), the school campus has three hostels that accommodate 250 students in total.

Around 250 students of Karanjia Girls' High School reached the office of the sub-collector, around 10km from their school, seeking redress of their grievances including transfer of their headmistress and adequate teaching staff and infrastructure. Karanjia sub-collector Sarat Purohit said: "We heard the students' grievances and assured them of appropriate action. We will conduct an inquiry within a week and take action."

On February 20, Class X students of a government high school at Bangiriposhi block in Mayurbhanj district had walked 20km to vent their grievances to the authorities of education department and the district collector.