Hill schools shift students to city - Unrest forces tie-up for special classes

MITA MUKHERJEE AND JHINUK MAZUMDAR, TT, Aug. 1: Three reputable residential schools in the troubled hills of north Bengal have tied up with institutes in Calcutta to organise special classes for outstation students who have had to return home because of the unrest there.

Mount Hermon School, Darjeeling, is arranging classes for 18 boarders at Calcutta Girls' High School and Methodist School, Dankuni.

Goethals Memorial School, Kurseong, and St. Paul's School, Darjeeling, have approached Gems Akademia International School in Calcutta to organise special classes for some of their outstation students. Several more have either made similar arrangements elsewhere or are looking at options, sources said.

The batch of 18 students Mount Hermon School is sending to Calcutta are from Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Thailand. "They are either Class X or Class XII students who will be writing the ICSE and ISC examinations next year. Coaching is being organised at Methodist School, Dankuni, and Calcutta Girls' High School to ensure that their studies are not affected," said Bishop Philip S. Masih of the Methodist Church in India's Bengal regional conference, which manages all three institutes.

]Masih, who is also the chairman of Mount Hermon, said accommodation had been arranged for the duration of the coaching. The 11 boys in the group would be staying on the campus of Methodist School, Dankuni. The girls will be put up in the city so that it is convenient for them to attend the special classes at Calcutta Girls' High School, Prinsep Street.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's statehood agitation started on June 15 and boarders who had gone home for the summer vacation could not return to the hills. The administration's clampdown on Internet services in the hills has also affected academic institutes.

"We want the outstation students to attend classes with our regular students. We can arrange special coaching for them after school to complete the portion of the syllabus that they have not been taught. We do not want education to suffer for political reasons," said Norton Emmanuel, principal of Methodist School, Dankuni.

Five students from Goethals Memorial and St. Paul's would be attending classes at Gems Akademia for now, principal Aditi Mukherjee said today.

These students are in classes VIII, IX and XI. "They will attend regular classes. Special classes will be held beyond school hours to cover the lessons they have missed. Accommodation will be provided by us," the principal said.

Some other schools in the hills have also approached Gems Akademia for special classes. "We are in touch with a few schools in Calcutta. We are looking for a suitable one because several institutes have already tied up with schools in Siliguri," said an official of a residential school in Darjeeling.

Father C.K. Shajumon, rector of St. Joseph's School (North Point), said his institute had arranged classes for a batch of students on the Jesuit premises in Matigara, around 4km from Siliguri.

P.M. Pradhan, principal of Rockvale Academy in Kalimpong, said classes had been organised for outstation students in Siliguri.