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Public schooling, the swadeshi style

Indrani Dutta

CALCUTTA, Dec. 8

THEY are 15 wisemen of the industry. And they have got together neither to set up an industry nor lobby with the Government for a common cause. They have come together to preserve national heritage.

By setting up an institution of learning which would double up as an academic centre even while grooming its `residents' to be truly global citizens but with firm Indian roots.

While the city has quite a few schools promoted by industry groups such as the Birlas, the Pauls of Apeejay and the Singhanias, this new venture becomes unique as it has bonded together 15 disparate groups (from the point of view of business interests), which have felt the need to invest in an enterprise whose end-cost is being projected at Rs 35 crore.

The 15 trustees have each contributed Rs 50 lakh to create a Rs 7.5-crore corpus and they are confident of raising the balance as they go along.

The groups involved include the Swarups of Paharpur Cooling Towers, Chitlangias of Sarda Plywood, Chowdharies of Vikram Allied Steel, Bhajankas & Agarwals of Century Plyboards and Shahs of Eastern Silks.

The Heritage School is coming up on a 10-acre plot on the eastern fringe of the city under the aegis of the Kalyan Bharati Trust that they have set up. Academic sessions are set to begin by April 2001.

According to Mr Mahendra Swarup, CMD of Paharpur Cooling Towers, who is one of the main driving forces behind the project: ``The idea is to set up one of the best institutions in the city, which will provide scope for the complete development of children . We will provide an ambience for them to grow up in a free environment while instilling in them the Indian values.''

`Fun school and smart school' is the concept that Mr Janajit Roy, Heritage's headmaster, would like to promote. Mr Roy, who is a former principal of the Manab Bharati School in Mussourie and a ex-Doon teacher, feels that his work is cut out for him.

``Ideally, I would like to promote a modernised gurukul concept, where parampara (tradition) such as touching the teachers' feet and awareness about ancient Indian mythology is as much a part of a student's culture as Internet browsing.''

As such, Heritage would be a co-educational day-boarding school, where overall development would be fostered through an array of academic, sports and talent development facilities.

The `smart school' concept, he explains, works on the premise that students reach out to develop their own knowledge, with teachers acting only as motivators and facilitators.

However, all these come at a price. Monthly fees have been pegged at Rs 3,000 for now, with scope for scholarships. ``Call it a school for the elite but not an elitist school,'' says Mr Roy.

Mr Swarup points out that 10 per cent of the seats may be available at a concessional rate.

At a later stage, the promoters intend to set up technical and management training institutes.