Darbhanga, Mar 10: Despite tall claims by successive Governments of making budgetary provisions for primary education in the country, children of a village in Jharkhand are forced to study in an open farm as their school has no building.

School remains closed during rainy season and winters as they are at the mercy of weather gods and this is adversely affecting their studies.

"We face problems to study especially in the winters when we stay at home. Also whenever there is bad weather we run back home, this way our studies get hampered," asserted Ram Dhari Kumar, a student.

Students and teachers are equally worried about the school, as they do not have any clue about the development of infrastructure.

"Neither there are chairs nor tables; even there are no facilities for the students to sit. It becomes impossible for the students to sit and study in the farm when the land is wet. We come to teach for a little while due to inappropriate facilities and this way the future of the students gets affected," added Arun Kumari, teacher.

The school has been registered under the Government for last two years. The students and teachers are hopeful that their pleas for a school building would be answered sooner or later.

The students consider the school a blessing even in the existing form. Students of the nearby villages enthusiastically attend their open-air school on time and try to make best of the prevailing situation.

Students are sitting on rags, as there are no chairs and tables and they use blankets to protect themselves from cold air in winters and burning sun in summers.

Although several schools were started in the region in the name of self-education but the students are facing several problem and their education is getting affected due to lack on faculties.

According to a census held in 2001, the percentage of literacy in India has risen to 65.38 per cent from a mere 18.33 per cent at the time of independence.

Bihar being the least literate State in the country stands at literacy rate 47.53 per cent, according to the provisional population totals in 2001 Census, as against 37.49 per cent in 1991 Census.

Although India has some of the best engineering and medical schools in the world and also one of the largest pools of skilled workers, nearly 35 per cent of Indians are still illiterate.

Eradication of illiteracy has been one of the major programmes of successive Governments since independence.

The National Literacy Mission, launched in 1988 by the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi's Government has greatly helped in enhancing literacy in the country. (ANI)