A fund of Rs 1.25 crore for the development of the school, land in New Town for a larger campus, all support from the education department to start an English-medium section from the next academic year and land for a college, if the authorities wanted to establish one: these were the “gifts” that chief minister Mamata Banerjee promised to Beltala Girls’ High School during the institute’s centenary celebrations held at Nazrul Mancha on Thursday.
Urging the school to found a college “for the sake of students” and asking the authorities to plan for it at the earliest, Banerjee said the college would get land from the state. If a college came up, then the students studying at Beltala School would be able to graduate from the same institute, she said. Banerjee said the institute—located in her neighbourhood—that had been imparting quality education to girls for the past century should open an English-medium section as well.
The teachers should see to it that the girls grew up, learning about the values of honesty and transparency, Banerjee said, urging the teachers to impart a clear idea of humanism, unity and solidarity to the youngsters.
Pointing to the poor condition of the old building of the school, the chief minister granted Rs 35 lakh for its repair, Rs 20 lakh for the upgrade of four labs there, and another Rs 20 lakh for the hostels. Moreover, she granted granted Rs 10 lakh for the gallery and Rs 5 lakh for the renovation of the open air theatre at the school. She also allocated Rs 15 lakh to rebuild the boundary wall and another Rs 20 lakh for the school’s library, furniture, computers and CCTV cameras. She, in fact, directed engineers to visit the school on Beltala Road and plan for its vertical development so that more floors could be added to the building to accommodate more students.
Banerjee also announced that cycles were not given to students in the city under the Sabuj Sathi scheme but they would come up with an alternative soon.
Source: Times of India
