Bhubaneswar, June 20: Orissa minister Pratap Jena said on Friday that not having a school building was “not a problem” and was no reason for students “not to turn up to school to study”.
“This is not a problem. This can’t be a reason at all for students not turning up to school to study,” Orissa Minister of State for Mass Education Pratap Jena said.
“We have a tradition of ‘bakula bana’ (studying in a garden) in the past where students used to study under the tree shade. Earlier, students used to walk miles to study. And after studying in these schools many have become IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officers,” the minister said.
He was interacting with some students during the launch of the forth state level campaign programme in Orissa ‘learning without fear’ by Plan India, an organisation working to prevent corporal punishment in schools.
The minister’s comments came after a student said to him that they do not have a school building and are studying under the tree.
Another student from a school in Puri district complained that their school did not have a toilet. (IANS)