Nabarangpur, 2nd Aug 2025: Braving heavy rain, members of the Righar Block Primary Teachers’ Association submitted a 10-point charter of demands to the Block Education Officer (BEO) and Block Development Officer (BDO), addressing the Chief Minister through them. This move was part of a protest highlighting multiple issues in the local education system.
According to the teachers, many schools are operating with only two teachers for six classes, and sometimes just one teacher for nine classes. Additionally, teachers are often engaged in non-academic duties, which leaves few or no teachers available for classroom instruction, making quality education impossible.
Despite these challenges, teachers are being forced to use the Unified Student Attendance (USA) mobile application on their personal phones to mark attendance. Non-compliance results in threats like salary withholding, which the teachers compared to dictatorial control, infringing on teachers’ dignity, personal rights, and even human rights in a democratic country.
Raeighar block is a remote, hilly region of Nabarangpur district, where many schools still lack internet access. Teachers have to climb hills or walk long distances to areas with mobile signal just to upload school data or mark attendance.
This situation may lead parents to lose faith in the system and oppose teachers, since children who arrive at school after 10 AM (the cut-off time for app-based attendance) may be denied the mid-day meal. Consequently, this policy could discourage school attendance, lowering literacy rates in the region.
The teachers’ union issued a warning:
> If their demands are not met and the USA system is not withdrawn, from Teachers’ Day onward, no government work will be done using personal mobile phones.
Key Demands Highlighted:
- Withdrawal of mandatory mobile-based attendance (USA system).
- Proper student-teacher ratio.
- End to overburdening teachers with non-teaching duties.
- Infrastructure improvement in schools.
- Network/internet access in remote schools.
- Stop punitive measures like salary withholding.
Participants and Leaders:
The rally and protest saw participation from over 100 teachers, including:
Sananta Praharaj (President, Nabarangpur Primary Teachers’ Association)
Debdas Gand, Motilal Gand, Ghanashyam Gand, Bingu Gand,
Kameswar Hantal, Sobha Singh Gand, Priyadarshini Raut,
Tilbai Gand, Pratima Mallik, Purnima Mistri,
Simanchal Haldar, Laktipriya Sahu, Basant Praharaj,
Bansidhar Jena, Ashish Mahalik, Somanath Pattnayak,
Hiralal Halba, Sujit Baroi, Ranjan Biswas,
Parameswar Singh Rajput, Himanshu Mahapatra, and others.
They marched through the rain in a protest rally opposing the USA system and submitted the memorandum to:
- Ritu Singh (Block Development Officer)
- Bikash Sarkar (Block Education Officer)
- Both officials accepted the memorandum on behalf of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha.
Leave a Reply