The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has proposed to set up more English medium primary schools in phases, Abhijit Mukherjee, member, Mayor-in-Council (Education) said on Monday.
KMC proposes to introduce English medium in the primary schools housed on the premises where the civic authorities own lands and the buildings are not rented ones. There are 17 English medium primary schools under KMC.
Mukherjee said that English as medium of instruction would be introduced in phases. "We are working on the proposal. Now, plans are being made to implement the proposal," Mukherjee said.
The KMC has 256 primary schools having over 25,000 students. Of the total number of students, 13,338 students are enrolled in Bengali medium schools while there are 6,899 students in Urdu and 5,611 students in Hindi medium schools. There are 154 Bengali medium schools followed by 46 Hindi and Urdu medium schools and another 56 Bengali and Urdu medium schools. Education is given free to the students. They are given school uniform and shoes for free.
The student are also given computer coaching. The KMC holds annual sports in its primary schools.
It may be mentioned that after coming to power in 2011, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had instructed Mayor Sovan Chatterjee to take steps to upgrade the KMC schools.
The KMC schools had become dens of political activities between 1985 and 2010. All the teachers had CPI(M) affiliation and they preferred not to take classes. Following the then state government's policy, English, which was earlier taught in the KMC schools was dropped out.
This resulted in a sharp fall in the number of students. Political meetings were regularly held in KMC schools. Moreover, KMC schools were regularly let out to hold social functions like marriage parties and other functions. The situation was so pathetic that the schools where social functions had taken place on the previous evening had to remain shut as those who had taken the premises on rent did not clean them.
After becoming the Mayor in 2010, Sovan Chatterjee first abolished the age old system of letting out KMC schools to hold social functions. He then took steps to upgrade the schools. The schools had regained their past glory when Dr Sashi Panja became the Mayor-in-Council (Education) between 2010-15.
The KMC schools were set up when Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das was the Mayor and Subhas Chandra Bose, a fellow of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) was the chief executive officer of the KMC in mid 1920s.