Caste No Barrier: Teachers Offer Free Hope to Dalit Students

A retired teacher, Gouranga Parida, and his son, Guruprasad, are actively dismantling caste barriers in a Jagatsinghpur village by offering free education to children from Scheduled Caste communities. These students, often from daily-wage laborer families, faced academic struggles and were denied private tuitions due to deep-seated social exclusion.

The father-son duo noticed significant learning gaps, with some students unable to perform basic literacy tasks. Recognizing that poverty alone wasn't the issue, they understood that caste-based untouchability further compounded the problem. This led them to establish evening classes.

Gouranga teaches seven children in one SC colony, while Guruprasad instructs 15 to 20 students from another colony at their ancestral home. These classes, primarily for students in Classes VI to X, run for three to four hours nightly. The initiative also addresses issues like substance abuse among some children, with dedicated counseling.

The Parida family further enhanced their support by converting a large room in their ancestral home into a 24/7 learning center, providing a conducive environment for students whose home settings may not be ideal for studies.