Bhubaneswar: Continuing his tirade against 5T initiative of the Odisha government, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jayanarayan Mishra on Tuesday expressed concern over 15,000 students not appearing for the annual HSC exams this year.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour of the Assembly, he claimed that the dropout rate in the state was the highest in the country. “Adding a fresh coat of ‘Pakistani’ colour to the school building won’t yield results. Many schools do not have adequate teachers and students of Class VI cannot even recognise Odia alphabets. Is this the vision of the government’s 5T initiative?” he asked, while seeking a response on the matter.
The LoP further questioned School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash’s visit to a school, where he took pictures with the students during the exam hours. “How unsettling would this have been for the children taking the tests,” he said.
Echoing his sentiments, Congress legislative party leader Narasingha Mishra said education in the state stood on a shaky ground.
BJD MLA Dr Arun Sahu countered the attack by saying that the Opposition still hasn’t understood the essence of the 5T initiative. “If you go to a village and see any sign of progress, that is 5T transformation for you. To denigrate the initiative, they even linked it to Pakistan. I fail to see the logic behind this comparison? Isn’t green a part of the Tricolour?” he asked.
He further said that people from BJP ruled states have appreciated the 5T initiative of Odisha government. “5T is a vision, an idea and a means of transformation which is being used to upgrade schools and other areas. If the Opposition has a particular dislike for the colour green, why not even quit consuming green vegetables,” he said.
Notably, the idea behind the Transformation of High Schools under 5T initiative was aimed at developing school infrastructure with modern technology and digital and smart class rooms, e-library and laboratories as well as an educative environment, which would improve the learning process. Another aspect of the programme was to encourage alumni, community and elected representatives to actively participate in the development of school infrastructure.
