Class I Boy Locked In Odisha School, Govt Orders Probe

Balasore: The School and Mass Education department on Thursday ordered a probe into the incident of a Class I boy being locked in a nodal school in Balasore district.

Following the order, a team led by the Cluster Resource Centre Coordinator (CRCC) went to Mahavir Nodal School at Matha Sahi in Balasore and interrogated the teachers and other staff.

“We will take appropriate action on the basis of the team’s report,” District Education Officer (DEO) Pramod Sarangi told the media.

According to reports, the incident had taken place on Wednesday when a school staff locked the main gate after classes ended in the afternoon. She didn’t notice that the Class-1 student had gone to the toilet. The boy started crying after he found the school gate was locked.

Alerted by the boy’s cries, a gupchup seller near the school alerted locals. Following information, a school staff came and opened the main gate to release the boy after an hour.

The school headmistress, Shantilata Mahapatra, admitted that this was not the first such incident. “We used to keep 1-2 students locked inside the school every day. As the school is located on the main road, we release the students only after the arrival of their parents. Yesterday, we had locked the boy and waited for his parents,” she added.

On the other hand, the boy’s father said he had rushed to the school after the gupchup seller informed him about the incident. “When I asked the staff why she had locked my son, she said it was not her duty to keep a watch on him. Later, I apprised the headmistress about the incident,” he added.