[ Karyir Riba ]
ANINI, 24 Aug: The sorry state of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) at Anini in Dibang Valley district has come under the scanner after its Parent Teacher Committee (PTC) members and social workers of the area raised questions on its malfunctioning.
According to reports, the school has no adequate teaching staff, no proper accommodation for the students and suffers from severe water issues.
PTC member Jando Taru informed, “Post Covid, the school has been functioning without a principal and no adequate subject teachers. The current session commenced in the first week of July but the school is still struggling to bring in regular teachers. Currently, just five contractual teachers are handling the 210 students. Experienced regular teachers have never been sent to this JNV, only newly recruited TGTs and contractual teachers have been sent here. No school nurse has also been appointed yet.”
Taru further informed that the school does not have a permanent building and has been functioning in a temporary structure since its establishment in 2006.
“Construction of the school building had started in 2006, which has not been completed till date even after 16 years. We can only blame the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) for this lag because there has been no monitoring or scrutiny on their part. During 2011-2013, the PTC members, parents and other well-wishers donated some fund and we built the current structures (bamboo and mud plaster) to house the children and to run their classes. This session, 80 parents donated a bed each for the 210 students because of unavailability of proper sleeping conditions for the children. In addition to all of these problems, the school has been suffering from severe water shortage due to which the condition of the toilets and bathrooms of the school are extremely pathetic.”
He added that the “Class XI admissions have been put on hold because of space issues.”
Omila Migi, a social activist from the area, stated that the condition of the school is of high concern. He said, “The situation of JNV Anini is such that the poor students are being deprived of basic and quality education, which is an utter violation of RTE Act 2009, and violations of various Supreme Court judgments on the right of education and basic fundamental rights. The students’ academic careers should not be sabotaged due to negligence on the part of authorities.”
Migi has written to the NVS commissioner apprising about the situation and to take action on the matter.
In his letter, Migi demands “immediate intervention in the matter within 15 days from the date of receiving the representation failing which, students and their parents will have no other efficacious remedy but to initiate democratic movement or legal course of action.”
Meanwhile, the principal incharge (PGT Economics of the school) has in his response to this daily on Wednesday, informed that “qualified teachers are being recruited and subject teachers will be joining in a couple of days.”
