JOIN USOne of the most historically significant schools of Delhi – the Vinay Nagar Bengali Senior Secondary School in Sarojini Nagar – celebrated its 60th year of existence recently. The school was established in 1951 to serve children of Bengali government servants who had migrated to Delhi post-Independence.
Over years, it has not only become symbolic of ‘Bengali culture schooling in Delhi’ – a fad in the 80s, but also a landmark in the field of education.Its principal Sukanta Bhattacharjee informs Metrolife, “Our school was established to educate children of a large number of migrant Bengali government servants and subsequently, children of displaced persons from Bangladesh as well. Back then, we had only 100 students and operated from tents. Today, we have 1200 students and all possible infrastructural requirements like labs, playgrounds, computers etc.
The school emerged from a need of parents keen on sending their children to Bengali medium schools, “not only to learn the language, but also to imbibe Bengali culture and values,” says the principal. “Many non-Bengalis would also get their students admitted here having noticed the emphasis on sciences, literature and rigorous discipline.”
However in keeping with the changing times, today the interest in Bengali and in general all regional language medium schools has come down. “We have also changed the medium of instruction to English but retained the study of Bengali as a language subject from Std I-X.”
Even though children from all regions are allowed admission here, even today 95 per cent of the students here happen to be Bengalis. In keeping with the historicity of the school, the authorities also celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in a befitting manner. It started with a spectacular magic show by PC Sorcar Junior in the school in April, followed by Rabindra Jayanti functions in May – including art, poetry and dance programmes by students dedicated to Gurudev. Then came a drama fest held at the famous Shiv Mandir in CR Park in June.
As part of the ongoing celebrations, a football exhibition match was held between the East Bengal Football Club and Delhi XI, at JLN stadium and a marathon ‘Run for education’ at India Gate was flagged off by world champion wrestler Sushil Kumar.
The celebrations concluded this week with live performances by Kavita Krishnamurthy and Euphoria band.Principal Bhattacharjee feels that irrespective of language or medium a child is taught in, “respect for culture, ethics and values must be inculcated. In this age of strife and confrontation, that is the real education our new generations need.”