After online hurdle, textbook trouble for Odia students in Andhra Pradesh

BERHAMPUR: As if Covid lockdown and online classes were not obstacles enough for hundreds of Odia students residing in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, they are yet to receive textbooks even after re-opening of schools.

​Many states have by now reopened schools but suffering of Odia students has not ended with exams knocking on the doors. The wards and their parents are equally worried about appearing without preparation. 

In Andhra Pradesh, schools reopened on November 2 but Odia textbooks have not reached the students yet. Chapara Zilla Parishad High School in Srikakulam district has over 50 Odia students who allege that they haven’t received any Odia book in the current academic year. Post demarcation of borders between Odisha and AP after independence, this village became part of Srikakulam district. As a result, a large number of Odia families went on to be permanent residents there. 

As per agreement between the two state governments, Odisha will provide Odia textbooks for Odia students in AP schools while the AP counterpart will look after the needs of Telugu textbooks for students in Odisha at the beginning of the school year. 

“The Odisha government was supposed to provide books to students up to Class 10 in June but due to Covid, the supply was postponed. This affected nearly 12,500 Odia students in AP,” claimed Saroj Patnaik of Pragatisila Utkal Samaj (PUS), an organisation working to protect and promote Odias living in other states. 

According to records, around 185 schools have Odia students from many parts of Odia-speaking tracts in Srikakulam district.

“There are scores of Odia students in Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts as well. Due to unavailability of books, students are losing interest in the language. Various organisations, along with the Odisha government, claim to be fighting for the cause of Odia people living in other states but the reality seems different,” alleged Patnaik. 

Another organisation, People for the Public (PFP), echoed similar sentiments and said students are opting out of schools due to this. What’s appalling, Odia inhabitants in the fringe districts of AP are forgetting Odia as their own language, said Hemang Roul of PFP.

“Seventy Odia families residing in Gajapatinagar village on the banks of Mahendratanaya river in Odisha converse in Telugu now,” he said.

“The AP government, with the help of Odia teachers, has been printing textbooks in Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Social Studies and Environmental Science and providing them to Odia students every year,” said B Rabinda Kumar, Science teacher at Chapara Zilla Parishad High School. 

Meanwhile, Patnaik said following persuation, Odisha government has started supplying books. Besides, PUS has arranged over 5,000 books for Odia students residing in AP.