In Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh, a noticeable change is happening in the education sector. Existing government schools now wear a new modern look and offer high quality education in English medium. And government officials and other affluent people who had admitted their children in schools outside the district are now moving them back to their old schools.
This latest trend is the result of the Chhattisgarh state government’s Swami Atmanand English Medium School scheme, through which dreams of students from the remote Naxal-affected areas are being fulfilled. Rajnandgaon is one such district where the work of upgrading the schools is being done on a mission mode. A total of nine schools in every block have been already redeveloped and converted into English medium schools.
The foundation stone of this project was laid soon after IAS officer Taran Prakash Sinha was appointed as the District Collector of Rajnandgaon. While he got transferred in the month of June last year, the stone laying ceremony was organised for the upgradation of all nine schools in Rajnandgaon by CM of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel.
UPGRADATION OF SCHOOLS
If we look back to a year ago, when the project of redevelopment wasn’t started, all the nine schools in the district just looked like any other ordinary government school. Situated in remote and forested areas of the district, the schools’ infrastructure was very poor and even the quality of education was not that good. However, soon after the launch of the Swami Atmanand English Medium School scheme and the inauguration of stone laying ceremony by the CM, local funds from DLF and some state government funds were secured.
Mr. Taran Prakash Sinha, while talking to Indian Masterminds, said, “After securing the funds, the work of redevelopment started with all force. The plan was to improve the overall infrastructure of every school and add all the important segments like laboratory, library, etc., and make it equivalent to any private school in the country.”
The renovation included up-gradation of toilets, classrooms, labs, campus, playing fields, furniture, school building, smart class, etc. The walls were painted with slogans and quotes of legends like APJ Abdul Kalam.
“Not only this,” Mr. Sinha added, “but an association was formed in every school and new teachers were appointed for teaching students in English medium. The teachers are also being given rigorous training so that the quality of education does not come down.”
DREAM TURNED INTO REALITY
The officer also mentioned that out of every school which has been redeveloped, the best English medium school has come out in the worst Naxal-affected block in the district, Manpur.
The project, which was completed in nine to ten months, has come as a dream come true for the people of the district. Such school facilities were never available to them before and sending their children to such a school was just a fantasy to them.
Mr. Sinha said that the response is so immense that the application rate is ten times more than the available seats in the schools. “This project is serving two motives. One, it is helping those students who were living in tribal and Naxal-affected areas of the district and never got a chance to study in an English medium school with such facilities. And secondly, it is also helping the government officials who were living away from their families just for the sake of admitting their children in good schools. Now that the quality of education and overall facilities have improved, they are bringing their kids back to the district and sending them to the same schools.”
In the initial phase, the administration upgraded the higher secondary schools and is now in the process of upgrading 30 primary schools in the district.
