Raipur (Chhattisgarh): In a welcome development, as many as 260 schools closed for over a decade and a half in four Naxal-affected districts of Chattisgarh were reopened on Thursday.
The schools are located in Sukma, Dantewada, Bijapur and Narayanpur districts and at present, over 11,000 students have been admitted to them. On Thursday, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel restarted the schools during a virtual programme. 158 of these schools are in the Bijapur district, 97 in Sukma, four in Narayanpur and one in Dantewada. In Chhattisgarh, over 6,000 baalwadis (pre-primary schools) have also been started within the school premises.
"Swami Atmanand English Medium School (a chain of English medium schools established by the Chhattisgarh government) and Hindi medium schools are being run to increase the quality and infrastructure of education in the state. Under this, 171 English and 32 Hindi medium schools are being operated in the state. Arrangements are being made to give the benefit of this scheme to those places from where the demand is coming. It is our endeavour that the level of excellence of government schools should not be less than any private school. The future of the children studying in government schools should also be bright," Chief Minister Baghel said.
He advised the teachers to make the beginning of the new education session and school entry festival meaningful. He asked them to work with new energy, determination and dedication. "Together, everyone should play an important role in making Chhattisgarh educated," the CM said. On the occasion, Chhattisgarh's School Education Minister Dr Premsai Singh Tekam said, "We are in mission mode right from the beginning of the new academic session. We are determined to provide good education to the children as well as to improve the basic facilities. At the beginning of the academic session also, we have fixed the target that all the children should be able to read, write and speak along with linguistic knowledge, and numeracy knowledge. Will also assess their knowledge from time to time at their level."
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In-charge minister Kawasi Lakhma, who was involved in the program from Bijapur, said, "There is enthusiasm among the children of the Naxal-affected area and happiness on the faces of the parents due to the opening of closed schools for 15 years." In the Bijapur district, 300 schools have been closed since 2005. Of these, 158 closed schools including those in Kadenal, Padeda, Kakekorma, Palnar, and Pusnar areas have been opened. For the smooth functioning of the schools, 'knowledge messengers' have been appointed in the villages.
Why were the schools closed?
Schools in these areas became victims of the Naxal violence that took place during the 'Salwa Judum' campaign against Naxalism in Bastar about 15 years ago. According to Jagdalpur's senior journalist Rajendra Bajpai, "Naxalites had blown up the school buildings with bombs. They believed that the Salwa Judum activists and security force personnel used the school buildings to carry out covert attacks. The children had to bear the brunt of the clashes that broke out between the two sides. Even after a long wait of 15 years, the flame of education did not burn in this area. In the Naxal-affected areas of Bastar region, around 400 government schools have been closed for almost 15 years. The state government decided to reopen more than 250 of these 400 schools in Sukma, Narayanpur, Dantewada and Bijapur districts."
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Sushil Anand Shukla, head of the State Congress Committee's communication department, said that "the schools in Bastar region were closed during the previous BJP government of the state". "Sometimes schools were closed in the name of Salwa Judum and sometimes Naxalite terror. More than 400 schools in Bastar region were closed during the BJP rule. After the Congress government came to power in the state, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel made it a priority that the closed schools of Bastar region should be restarted so that children can get a better education," he said. Reacting to it, Chhattisgarh BJP spokesperson Sanjay Srivastava called it a "magic of government figures". "It needs to be seen how and when children will go to these schools and whether there will be studies. Only then claims will be trusted. The state government misleads the public by showing false figures," he said.
On the reopening of closed schools in Naxalite strongholds, Naxal Expert Varnika Sharma said, "It is a good initiative. The children of the area will get the benefit. It also needs to be seen that there is a slight difference between the schools opened in the plain areas and the schools opened in the tribal areas. In such a situation, if arrangements are made there on a local basis, better results will come out. There is a need for continuous monitoring of the structure which is being prepared by the administration. Education is the only weapon that will prove to be a panacea to face the Naxalite challenge in that area."
