Soon, KMC to set up 2 new English medium schools

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will set up two more English medium schools in the city — one each in North and South Kolkata. The school in North Kolkata is expected to get the nod from the monthly meeting of the civic body scheduled on Tuesday with Trinamool Congress councillors forming majority in the board. The tender process for the school in South Kolkata has already been completed and work will start soon.

The school in North Kolkata will come up at Priyonath Mukherjee Road at Paikpara in ward number 6 under Borough I while the school in South Kolkata will be located at Martin Para under ward 108 Borough XII of Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

"We have procured a land of around three cottah from the Parks & Squares department for setting up a school at Paikpara. The school from pre primary level to Class V will double up both as English medium and Hindi medium in two shifts one in the morning and another in the afternoon. It has already got the nod of the Mayor-in-Council and will be placed for approval in the monthly meeting on Tuesday," Member Mayor-in-Council (Education) Abhijeet Mukherjee said.

The school at Martinpara in South Kolkata will have a three-storeyed building and will have two shifts. The medium will be Bengali during the day and English in the afternoon. The civic body will be spending Rs 3.3 crore for the school.

At present there are 253 KMC schools in the city among which 17 are English medium. "We have found out that the average number of students in English medium schools is higher in comparison to Bengali medium. The drop outs from the Bengali medium is also much more. So we are trying to set up or upgrade our schools to English medium. We are in the process of recruiting 100 contractual teachers in civic body schools," a senior official of KMC's Education department said.