Eight years ago, Dr Arun Oraon, a 1992 batch IPS officer of the Punjab cadre and a qualified doctor, made a life-changing decision. He took voluntary retirement from his police job and began teaching youngsters at his home, in a remote village of Ranchi district.
Oraon was determined to do something good for the society, especially the poor tribals of Jharkhand.
Initially, only a handful of youths in high school, college or preparing for competitive exams joined Oraon’s classes while most villagers remained sceptical.
However, even with a small base, the former policeman realised only too soon that his students lacked some basic skills that are taken for granted in the modern world.
The youngsters were intelligent and hard-working, but unable to communicate fluently in English, use computers and the internet, or interact on social media.
To address the issue at the grassroots, Oraon envisaged a night school — from 6 pm to 8.30 pm — that would offer tutorials and guidance free of cost to children unable to attend school regularly or needing special attention.
Village youths pursuing higher education would also be trained to smoothly engage in normal classes. In fact, adults, too, were welcome.
The first Kartik Oraon Ratri Pathshala, named after his father-in-law who was a freedom fighter and former Union Minister, was thus set up in Uchri village in Mandar block, close to the State capital. Oraon was helped greatly in this by fellow tribal Anil Oraon, who was among the first few to approach the former policeman for career guidance.
The night schools began operating from village community halls, anganwadi centres and dhumkuria (youth dormitories).
Courses were framed to enable non-English speakers, or those with inadequate basic educational background, to easily grasp the subjects.
Extracurricular activities were given adequate attention. Art and cultural functions, sports events, public speaking and quiz competitions were organised at regular intervals and good performers were felicitated.
The success of these schools motivated others too, and soon, the entire village was rallying around Oraon to help his cause.
“Today, 102 Kartik Oraon Ratri Pathshala are operating smoothly in different villages of Ranchi, Lohardaga, Gumla and Khunti districts. Four hundred college-going boys and girls are engaged in teaching over 5,000 children enrolled in these schools,” Oraon, who has been in the Congress and is now a senior office bearer of the BJP’s Scheduled Tribes Morcha, points out..
The schools are interlinked with each other through Facebook, WhatsApp and various other social media fora.
Parwati Oraon and Pramila Oraon, both belonging to the Uchri village and Preety from Totambi village of Mandar block are among those attending the night schools, which have “besides everything, made them more confident to face the world”. “We eagerly look forward to attending the classes,” they say.
The man behind the silent revolution in the villages of Jharkhand, Dr Arun Oroan tells theindiantribal.com : “It is purely a voluntary initiative. We are not giving a single penny to anyone. The teachers too are offering voluntary services. Still, the demand for setting up such schools in other tribal hinterlands is growing steadily.”
“The night schools have not only helped improve their educational standards but also helped in their personality development. Their public speaking skills have improved. It has inculcated discipline in them. They are more aware of hygiene. They have better social etiquettes now. Most importantly, they are are now leading the fight against social evils like witch-hunting and drinking in their own ways,” Oraon, who has recently been made an independent Director in Coal India Ltd, elaborates
Such is the strength of the Kartik Oraon Ratri Pathshala network, that even the Covid lockdowns didn’t disturb their functioning.
Oraon has managed the momentous task of giving thousands of tribal youngsters a level playing field at the threshold of their professional lives.
