School for refugee kids gets Eng-medium wing after 75 years

Kolkata: A school that was established in 1949 for children of those who had migrated to Kolkata after the Partition — Benepukur Vidyapith — has received an approval from the school education department to start an English-medium wing from this academic session.A huge number of refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan had started living in this area after Partition. After Partition, when people migrated here from East Pakistan, some locals, including Subimal Chatterjee, stepped forward to set up a school for the refugee kids. Locals believe the land, too, was donated by Chatterjee, who used to own several plots in the area. As the school celebrates its 75th year, authorities say the student strength has dipped. From classes V to X, there are only 96 students now. The total number of students, including the primary, secondary and HS sections, will not be more than 200, officials said. Teacher-in-charge Balai Chandra Mahesh said, “The number dropped remarkably after Covid. We have been trying to start a parallel English-medium section since 2022 and had sent a letter to the school education department. We received the nod and within a month, other formalities will be completed to start admission procedure.” He added, “Parents want to get their kids admitted to English medium schools. So, we are hopeful that students will come to take admission.”At present the school is running with 8 teachers and 10 posts are vacant. After the start of the new wing, the faculty strength will remain the same but school officials are planning to fill up posts and start a roster. After the approval, minister Babul Supriyo posted on the X handle by mentioning state education minister Bratya Basu. “This was a strong passionate aspiration of the local populace which is a heterogeneous mix of different linguistic groups and I am very happy for all of us. The decision is in sync with the inclusive policy envisaged by the Hon’ble CM Mamata Banerjee,” Supriyo posted.Earlier, Santoshpur Rishi Aurobindo Balika Vidyapith that was also set up for kids who had migrated from East Pakistan in 1950, had received a nod to start an English-medium section. Bhawanipore Modern School where chief minister Mamata Banerjee used to teach was inaugurated this month by CM herself where she announced the school would give equal importance to Bengali and English.
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