AFC Rural School – A Case Study

The team AFC during the process of community mobilization among the project villages covered under Western Orissa Rural Livelihood Project visited Thangabahali village of Chancher gram panchayat on 28th March 2006. The village is 17 km from Bhavanipattana, the District Headquarter and is adjacent to Karlapad Reserve forest . The village is connected by a dirt track road. The village has 17 household having a population of 86 people, consisting of scheduled tribes and scheduled castes. Thangabahali village does not have infrastructure like health centre, anganwadi center or primary school and most of the villagers follow subsistence farming practices. To address the health needs; the villagers have to travel to Bhavanipattana which is 17 km away, while the nearest school available for them is situated at Jugsipattana and Phokarighat which is about 7 Km away. The situation is same for other tribal villages in the area.

The villagers requested the AFC team and the Managing Director AFC on 28th March 2006 who was on a review mission to the project site , for establishing a school in the village. The community agreed to provide a room for the school and pay a token fee of Rs 2/- per child. With no provision for running schools under the WORLP project the team AFC decided to initiate the process under entry point activity. AFC appointed a community link worker as the teacher for the school and an old lady to tell folk stories to the children so as to inculcate cultural and moral values

The school was formally inaugurated on 1st April 2006. During the initial period there were 26 students between the age group of 6 to 14 years. They are being taught to read and write. Books and slates were provided to the students. The popularity of the programme can be judged by the fact that 20 children from adjoining village of Marnabhali have joined the school raising the enrollment to 46 students.