(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are based on my own general impression of different schools. I have made no detailed study in this regard. )
A school often has a great influence in shaping the outlook of a person for the rest of his/her life. I studied for 15 years in a school called South Point in Kolkata. It was (and still is) a most extraordinary school.
There are broadly three types of schools in Kolkata. There are the posh, ultra-urban schools in the South-Central Part of the city- like Apeejay, Don Bosco, La Martineare's, Modern High School etc. These are mostly English-medium school affilated to the CBSE and ICSE boards, and are attended mostly by children of the rich and elite class of the city. These schools are known for their posh, urban culture, their glitterring fests, and also their academic performance at the National Level. These are the only schools in West Bengal which do quite well in exams like IIT-JEE, PMT etc, because their syllabi are aligned with that of these national level exams. In the second category are the traditional "middle class schools"- Patha Bhavan, Nava Nalanda, Jodhpur Park Boys and Girls, Carmel, Ballygunge Government, Hare, Hindu etc. These are mostly affiliated to the West Bengal Board of Secondary (and Higher Secondary) education, and the medium of instruction is mostly Bengali, even though the textbooks are in English in some of these schools. They are less glitterring and posh than the earlier category, and have a more traditional Indian/Bengali outlook. Some of them, like Hare and Hindu, boast of producing many stalwarts, academic or otherwise, from their haydays during the British Raj. The third category includes the numerous humble local schools, found more in the residential areas and localities. They are also affiliated to the West Bengal board, and the medium is mostly Bengali (some Hindi-medium schools are also there). These schools do not boast of either stalwart alumni or urban glamour, nor do they possess top-class equiment and infrastructure. However that doesn't mean these schools are academically backward.....many of them outperform the better-known schools in average performance in the state-level board exams. Needless to say this categorization is not hard, the boundaries between the classes are certainly not pronounced.
South Point is a curious case in this society of schools. It was founded in 1954 by the academician Satikanta Guha, aimed at "providing middle class students quality education at a reasonable cost". It is affiliated to the West Bengal Board. It is supposed to be english-medium as the textbooks are in english, but the medium of instructions is mainly bengali. Its haydays were in the 1960s, when it had some extraordinary teachers and even more extraordinary students. It dominated the state-level exams, and produced numerous outstanding personalities who distinguished themselves in their respective fields, not necessarily academic. But as the days proceeded, South Point saw a paradigm shift. Quality was traded for quantity, and the number of students increased exponentially. It soon acquired the status of the school with the second-largest number of students in Asia (the leader being a school in Lucknow). It had two buildings now...one for Nursery classes and Class I-V, and the other for classes VI to XII. In our year, over 800 students appeared in the Class X board exam. Meanwhile, the founder Mr. Guha passed away in 1989, and his son Indranath controlled the school for a few years. But he had problems in his family, and could not control the ever-expanding institute. In 1995, the Birla Family took over it. The stalwart enterpreneur Sri Madhav Prasadji Birla had set up a technological museum and an astronomical observatory in kolkata, and had proceeded to build a chain of schools, into which South Point was also drafted.
As I have seen South Point, the educational and cultural standards are quite curious. There are some very brilliant students who shine in college and afterwards. There are well-equipped labs for classes XI and XII. But the average academic performance is no longer outstanding (but nonetheless more than decent). The teaching staff, which was really extraordinary in the 1960s, is now not different from other schools in the city. The school is really really rich, it is further expanding the student count, and its Golden Jubilee was celebrated with pomp in 2004 with a week-long chain of gala events. The high school now has a spanking clean office which resembles a corporate house more than a school office. The annual prize distribution ceremonies which also includes a host of cultural programs, attracts enough people to fill (and overflow) the Netaji Indoor Stadium. The school also has an alumni association which holds a dazzling reunion every year in a most fashionable venue in Kolkata. At the student level, till the VIIth or VIIIth classes, traditional Indian middle class culture dominates, like the schools of the second category as mentioned above. But in the higher classes the school becomes more like the first category. In these classes South Point is now known less for its academic excellence but more for its glamour and progressive (?) mentality. A South Point student is considered more likely to have danced in a disco than those from other schools. The higher class students use slang language at an extent which is considered unimaginable in other schools, and speculations do rounds that porn-watching is not uncommon among Pointers. It is often said that "South Point is a school where there is no Discipline". These dubious reputations mark a complete departure from the middle-class idealism of the 1960s and 1970s, but then that is true of the whole urban indian society. Though I am myself not a big fan of this new urban culture, I don't have anything negative against it. Rather, according to me, South Point is not just a school....it is a culture of its own, and it is the reflection of current urban india.
A school often has a great influence in shaping the outlook of a person for the rest of his/her life. I studied for 15 years in a school called South Point in Kolkata. It was (and still is) a most extraordinary school.
There are broadly three types of schools in Kolkata. There are the posh, ultra-urban schools in the South-Central Part of the city- like Apeejay, Don Bosco, La Martineare's, Modern High School etc. These are mostly English-medium school affilated to the CBSE and ICSE boards, and are attended mostly by children of the rich and elite class of the city. These schools are known for their posh, urban culture, their glitterring fests, and also their academic performance at the National Level. These are the only schools in West Bengal which do quite well in exams like IIT-JEE, PMT etc, because their syllabi are aligned with that of these national level exams. In the second category are the traditional "middle class schools"- Patha Bhavan, Nava Nalanda, Jodhpur Park Boys and Girls, Carmel, Ballygunge Government, Hare, Hindu etc. These are mostly affiliated to the West Bengal Board of Secondary (and Higher Secondary) education, and the medium of instruction is mostly Bengali, even though the textbooks are in English in some of these schools. They are less glitterring and posh than the earlier category, and have a more traditional Indian/Bengali outlook. Some of them, like Hare and Hindu, boast of producing many stalwarts, academic or otherwise, from their haydays during the British Raj. The third category includes the numerous humble local schools, found more in the residential areas and localities. They are also affiliated to the West Bengal board, and the medium is mostly Bengali (some Hindi-medium schools are also there). These schools do not boast of either stalwart alumni or urban glamour, nor do they possess top-class equiment and infrastructure. However that doesn't mean these schools are academically backward.....many of them outperform the better-known schools in average performance in the state-level board exams. Needless to say this categorization is not hard, the boundaries between the classes are certainly not pronounced.
South Point is a curious case in this society of schools. It was founded in 1954 by the academician Satikanta Guha, aimed at "providing middle class students quality education at a reasonable cost". It is affiliated to the West Bengal Board. It is supposed to be english-medium as the textbooks are in english, but the medium of instructions is mainly bengali. Its haydays were in the 1960s, when it had some extraordinary teachers and even more extraordinary students. It dominated the state-level exams, and produced numerous outstanding personalities who distinguished themselves in their respective fields, not necessarily academic. But as the days proceeded, South Point saw a paradigm shift. Quality was traded for quantity, and the number of students increased exponentially. It soon acquired the status of the school with the second-largest number of students in Asia (the leader being a school in Lucknow). It had two buildings now...one for Nursery classes and Class I-V, and the other for classes VI to XII. In our year, over 800 students appeared in the Class X board exam. Meanwhile, the founder Mr. Guha passed away in 1989, and his son Indranath controlled the school for a few years. But he had problems in his family, and could not control the ever-expanding institute. In 1995, the Birla Family took over it. The stalwart enterpreneur Sri Madhav Prasadji Birla had set up a technological museum and an astronomical observatory in kolkata, and had proceeded to build a chain of schools, into which South Point was also drafted.
As I have seen South Point, the educational and cultural standards are quite curious. There are some very brilliant students who shine in college and afterwards. There are well-equipped labs for classes XI and XII. But the average academic performance is no longer outstanding (but nonetheless more than decent). The teaching staff, which was really extraordinary in the 1960s, is now not different from other schools in the city. The school is really really rich, it is further expanding the student count, and its Golden Jubilee was celebrated with pomp in 2004 with a week-long chain of gala events. The high school now has a spanking clean office which resembles a corporate house more than a school office. The annual prize distribution ceremonies which also includes a host of cultural programs, attracts enough people to fill (and overflow) the Netaji Indoor Stadium. The school also has an alumni association which holds a dazzling reunion every year in a most fashionable venue in Kolkata. At the student level, till the VIIth or VIIIth classes, traditional Indian middle class culture dominates, like the schools of the second category as mentioned above. But in the higher classes the school becomes more like the first category. In these classes South Point is now known less for its academic excellence but more for its glamour and progressive (?) mentality. A South Point student is considered more likely to have danced in a disco than those from other schools. The higher class students use slang language at an extent which is considered unimaginable in other schools, and speculations do rounds that porn-watching is not uncommon among Pointers. It is often said that "South Point is a school where there is no Discipline". These dubious reputations mark a complete departure from the middle-class idealism of the 1960s and 1970s, but then that is true of the whole urban indian society. Though I am myself not a big fan of this new urban culture, I don't have anything negative against it. Rather, according to me, South Point is not just a school....it is a culture of its own, and it is the reflection of current urban india.
