Jharkhand: Singhbhum Odias Struggle to Educate Children in Mother Tongue

Chakradharpur, Jharkhand: The 129-year-old Odia School established in Kera village of Chakradharpur in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district is on the verge of closure. The school management committee, parents and students are living under this fear, which may also deprive their children from studying in their mother tongue -- Odia.

In 2012, while this middle Odia school imparting education to mostly Odia-speaking students of the village, celebrated its centenary, in 2019, the Jharkhand government demolished six rooms citing the dilapidated condition of this centenary school.

But, even after five years of the demolition, no new building has been constructed so far. As a result, children are either studying under a tree or on the verandah. During the rainy season, the situation gets worse.

The Odia Madhya Vidhalaya in Kera village imparts education up to class VIII. Before the demolition in 2019, the school had 10 rooms, now it has only four, of which classes are being held in two rooms. One of the remaining two rooms has a science and math lab, while the other room is an office and store room for mid-day meals (MDM).

The school’s principal in-change Sheela Kumari told this reporter, “After demolition of the school building, correspondence was done with senior officials of the department concerned regarding the problems faced by teachers and students, but in vain”. She added,“We have requested the District Education Officer, Regional Education Extension Officer, Block Education Extension officer, but have not received any support from them”.

Odia Middle School in Kera village Chakradharpur.

In Jharkhand, the Education Project Council had directed demolition of dilapidated buildings of 4,431 schools citing the safety of children. On receiving instructions, the school buildings were demolished, but in many places, the department seems to have forgotten to rebuild.

Odia Madhya Vidhyalaya in Kera village is one among these. This has had a drastic impact on enrollment of students to one of the oldest Odia schools in Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. Earlier, the total number of students was 363, which has reduced to 222. As children have no constructed room to study, parents are admitting them in other schools.

Subas Sahu, father of a class V student, said, “As there is no proper classroom, my son doesn’t take interest in going to school. He was performing better in studies, but since the classrooms have been demolished and no new room has been constructed, he has lost interest. I feel studying on verandahs has impacted his performance.”

Odia Schools in Jharkhand

Deepak Kumar Singhdeo, the present royal scion of Singhbhum regime and member of the Odia Bhasa Bichara Manch in Jharkhand, said, “This school was established by my great grandfather Laxmi Narayan Singhdeo with the help of Odisha’s legendary figure and reformer Utkalamani Gopabandhu Das. He wanted the children of Singhbhum to study in Odia language (their mother tongue) and donated the land for the school. Now not only this one, but many other Odia schools in Jharkhand have been struggling for various reasons – non-availability of Odia books, lack of Odia teachers and now the demolition of rooms has added to the problems”. 

Though Odia is the second official language in Jharkhand, Odia schools, especially in Odia-speaking areas, such as Purba Singhbhum, Paschim Singhbhum and Sareikela Kharsuan, are facing threat of closure.

Singhdeo said, “Though parents want to preserve Odia culture by enrolling their children in Odia schools, but due to irregularities in supply of Odia books, absence of Odia teachers, most parents have transferred their children and enrolled them in Hindi-medium schools”.

In 1936, when Orissa became a state, Purba Singhbhum, Paschim Singhbhum and Sareikela Kharsuan, the princely states, came under the authority of the Orissa Province. Even after Independence, these states merged with Orissa, but in 1948, the tribals of two princely states --Sareikala and Kharsuan -- who were in a majority, revolted against the merger with Orissa. The Central government then appointed the Baudkar Commission, and on the basis of its report, Sareikala and Kharsuan were merged with Bihar on May 18, 1948. These two princely states became part of Jharkhand when the state was carved out of Bihar on November 15, 2000.

Students are studying on the verandah after demolition of classrooms.

About 20 lakh Odias live in these areas and since 1948 the non-tribal Odias of these districts -- Sareikala, Kharsuan, East Singhbhum and West Singhbhum -- are struggling to preserve their language, culture and tradition.

An Odia teacher in an upper primary school, on request of anonymity, told this reporter, “Earlier there were 241 Odia schools where students were imparted education in Odia language, but due to the lackadaisical attitude of then Bihar government, many Odia schools were closed. The attitude of the Bihar government was that if children are not taught in their mother tongue, Odias living in this part of the state will not take interest in merging with Orissa”. 

“This attitude is still prevalent even though State control has changed. As a result, the key sufferers are students who are not getting books and teachers on time”, he added.

Struggle for Existence

The Odia Primary School in Jaintgarh in Jagannathpur block of Jharkhand, adjacent to Keonjhar district in Odisha, was established in 1985. But, in 2018-19, the  Jharkhand government closed this school. “At the time of closure, there were nearly 40 students and three teachers. The teachers were transferred to other schools whereas parents enrolled their children in nearby schools where they are being taught in Hindi. Now this school is closed and stands like an unused building (bhoot kothi)”, said Subhas Chandra Behera, a parent and general secretary of the previous school management committee.

The Odisha government provides books in Odia language from class 1 to 8, whereas students from class 9 and 10 face difficulties in getting books. In many schools, students are referring to books printed in 2007.

Nirjarini Rath, member, Jharkhand Right to Education (RtE) Forum, said, “The Odisha government provides all books (from class 1-8) and Odia teachers through Utkal Sammilani, but students of Classes 9 and 10 photocopy a book that was last printed in 2007, and refer to it for their studies”.

The Jharkhand government has very few Odia teachers. Thus, most students are not willing to study in Odia. “If the Odisha government provides books and sufficient teachers to these Odia schools in Jharkhand, it will help to preserve the language, culture and tradition. Else, it will be difficult for the language to survive here,” he added.

The statue of legendary reformer of Odisha Utkalamani Gopabandhu Das

Deepak Singdeo, who has been struggling to retain Odia language and culture among Odias living in Singhbhum, said he had started a campaign on this and had mailed local MLAs and MPs about it. He also brought the campaign to the notice of the Odisha education minister in the previous (Biju Janata Dal) government, but now everything has died with the change of government (Bharatiya Janata Party is now ruling in Odisha). This writer tried to contact the School and Mass Education Minister of the new government in Odisha but no response was received from their end.

Meanwhile, the villagers of Kera have now sought the intervention of President of India, Droupadi Murmu, for reconstruction of the Odia Madhya Vidyalaya in their village. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has also agreed to look into the matter.     

The writer is a freelancer based in Odisha.