Odisha To Provide Necessary Help For Odia Students On Andhra Border: Minister

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government on Monday announced to provide help for Odia students living in villages on Andhra Pradesh border.

The announcement was made by School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash after a meeting with Andhra Pradesh house committee which was here on Monday.

Speaking to media Dash said issues faced by students willing to learn Odia language at the border areas besides Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam will be sorted out.

As per sources a large number of Odia students living in bordering villages as well as those residing in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram of Andhra Pradesh are unable to pursue education in Odia due to acute shortage of teachers as well as study material.

The Minister said around 4,000 children are studying in the neighbouring state where there are 230 Odia schools. However, there is a large vacancy of 130 Odia teachers.

The AP House Committee also met Odisha Assembly Speaker Surya Narayan Patro.

Patra said, “I have already ordered the officials to visit the respective places after the current Assembly session gets over and collect the information about every student facing problems in their studies so that Odisha government can reach out to them on time.”

The Andhra Pradesh House Committee was led by AP Legislative Council Chairman Mohammed Ahmed Shariff.

The teams also discussed language-based education issue in bordering villages of Rayagada, Gajapati, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Ganjam and Koraput districts. Shariff has reportedly assured to take care of Odia students in his state.

On the other hand, he expressed concern over a similar problem faced by students wishing to learn Telugu in Odisha and informed the government that Telugu associations of border districts submitted their representations which was in turn submitted as a memorandum to Odisha Government.

A large section of Telugu-speaking people are residing in the districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Malkangiri, Shariff informed.

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