OH !  FOR  A  NOTEBOOK  AND  A  PENCIL !

Last week, Wednesday, 25 June, Jayanti Nayak committed suicide. She was 14 years old. She lived in Ganjam District of Orissa, 170 km south of Bhubaneshwar. What was her problem?

Jayanti’s father is a daily-wage earner. He had a stroke earlier this year. He was bed ridden and is just back to work after three months.

 

Jayanti needed a fresh notebook and pencil. Her parents said they could not afford to buy them, but would try to do so soon. On Wednesday Jayanti told her mother she could not go to school without the notebook and pencil and would stay back home for the day.

After her mother left for work she doused herself in Kerosene and set fire to herself. The neighbours saw fire and smoke coming out of the house. They rushed in and took her to the hospital, but she passed away.

Some people wonder why NGOs get into education when we have so many government schools and a wonderful scheme like SSA (Sarva Sikshya Abhyan). A lot remains to be done despite our beautiful policies and schemes. NGOs like BOSCONET and Don Bosco still have a LOT to do!