Pinaki Ganguly is the incumbent secretary of Sri Sri Ramkrishna Vivekananda Vidyapith, a new K-II school established by the Rural Organisation for Social Establishment (ROSE) in Charida, a tiny village (pop. 2,500) in West Bengal’s most backward Purulia district. The school with an enrollment of 77 students (45 boys and 32 girls) instructed by four teachers, is the first academic initiative of ROSE.

Promoted by Ganguly and 11 other local members in 2002, ROSE is an NGO working for community development in this tribals-dominated district. Hitherto it had been providing an ambulance service, facilitating Unicef’s total sanitation campaign, and spreading socially positive messages on education, health, and early marriage through chau and jhumur — traditional folk dances of Purulia. The NGO is primarily funded by local government organisations including zilla and gram panchayats and the panchayat samiti. Touch Mission, a Mumbai-based NGO provides education material to 200 underprivileged children identified and supported by ROSE.

Newspeg. In the academic year beginning January the school began class II in a new one-storeyed building allocated by the state government in the contiguous village of Kanrihensa.

History. As indicated in its name, the vidyapith (school) has been inspired by the teachings of educator-philosophers Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramkrishna who preached the message of holistic learning “so that learning becomes entertaining to the blooming buds of the village”. However, to part-subsidise the cost of education provision and “also to impact the value of quality education,” a tuition fee of Rs.75 per month is levied on parents who also have to pay a one-time admission fee of Rs.300. But the costs of school uniforms, winter garments and school bags, exercise and text books, are all included in these fees.

Direct talk. “Because government schools don’t levy any tuition fee, they are unable to provide quality education. Therefore people in Charida and its neighbourhood are ready to make great financial sacrifices to send children to our school. Nevertheless to 15 students from extremely poor households, we offer full scholarships,” says Pinaki Ganguly. “To retain children in school, we take great pains to make learning interesting and entertaining by celebrating cultural festivals, encouraging sports education and taking children on excursions to heritage sites to enable them to appreciate our culture and traditions,” he adds.

Future plans. Although the principles and values of holistic education are well-known in urban India, they are novel to the community in this remote district of West Bengal. Therefore the ROSE-promoted vidyapith has aroused great enthusiasm within the region’s parent and student communities. “We are now working to provide vocational education, particularly in computer skills to our students. Once parents witness learning outcomes in their children, they will become champions of education,” says Pinaki Ganguly.

Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata)