First-generation learners stare at a bleak future in Odisha
The Hindu
Lack of access to classroom teaching hampered their studies
Being brought up amidst parents without any formal education generally leaves children at a disadvantage. But, when access to classroom-teaching, the only line of guidance for the first-generation learners, got cut-off during the COVID-19 pandemic, it proved to be a double-whammy for hundreds of children in rural Odisha.
At Darlipada, in Boden block of Nuapada district, Laxmi Jagat, 17, feels the pain of being kept away from classroom teaching better than others.
She considers herself lucky as she managed to scrape through the matriculation examination with 198 marks (32%) this year. In her own words she had no idea about the subjects, which were supposed to be taught in Class X.
More than 2.6 lakh village and ward volunteers in Andhra Pradesh, once celebrated as the government’s grassroots champions for their crucial role in implementing welfare schemes, are now in a dilemma after learning that their tenure has not been renewed after August 2023 even though they have been paid honoraria till June 2024. Disowned by both YSRCP, which was in power when they were appointed, and the current ruling TDP, which made a poll promise to double their pay, these former volunteers are ruing the day they signed up for the role which they don’t know if even still exists