Odisha girl dies by suicide after parents force her to attend offline classes
After the disruption to the academic schedule due to Covid-19, the Board of Secondary Education had reduced the syllabus of classes 9 and 10 by more than 33 per cent and unveiled a scheme of assessment for the session 2021-22 both for classes 9 and 10 students under which internal assessments would be done by the class/subject teachers periodically.
Forced to attend offline classes by her family, a class 10 student in Malkangiri district of Odisha died on Saturday, a day after she consumed pesticide.
A class 10 student in Malkangiri district of Odisha died on Saturday, a day after she consumed pesticide. (HT FILE PHOTO.)
The girl, a resident of Bhimaranganiguda village under Malkangiri Sadar police station area of the district was being forced by her parents to go back to the government residential school in Satiguda, where she studied. The school-cum-hostel opened on February 7 after remaining closed since January 7 due to the third wave of Covid-19.
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The father of the deceased said she was hesitant to go back to school after it reopened on February 7. “When I kept on asking her not to miss physical classes, she consumed pesticide last night at home. We then brought her to Malkangiri district headquarters hospital. However, she passed away today,” said the girl’s father.
After the disruption to the academic schedule due to Covid-19, the Board of Secondary Education had reduced the syllabus of classes 9 and 10 by more than 33 per cent and unveiled a scheme of assessment for the session 2021-22 both for classes 9 and 10 students under which internal assessments would be done by the class/subject teachers periodically in continuous manner in the form of Formative Assessments.
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However, students are protesting the government’s decision to hold Class 10 board examinations in offline mode saying they should be assessed on the basis of their internal examinations as regular classes were not held properly.
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However, students are protesting the government’s decision to hold Class 10 board examinations in offline mode saying they should be assessed on the basis of their internal examinations as regular classes were not held properly.
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.
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