Our school Chandernagore Kanailal Vidyamandir (French Section) is situated at the  heart of the town Chandernagore a Corporation city and former French colony located 35 kilometers (22 mi) north of Kolkata, in West Bengal, India. In the year of 1862, Jesuit missionary Father Maglower Barthe established a school named ‘Ecole de Sainte Marie’ (St. Mary’s Institution) in the French colony of Chandernagore – a beautiful hamlet by the river Ganges in Bengal Province in India. Bengali and French languages used to be taught there and at the end of the course student used to appear in ‘Certificat d’Etude Primaire Elémentaire’ (C.E.P.E.). Except Bengali language, the medium of instruction for all other subjects was French and the curriculum used to be in line with the same followed in France.

In the year of 1901, once again, the school was renamed ‘Collège Dupleix’ after famous ruler of colonial France and the first Governor of Chandernagore Joseph François Dupleix. 

On 17th of May, 1948 the school was renamed ‘Kanailal Vidyamandir’ after the great revolutionary and martyr Kanailal Dutta, the son of the soil, who was also a student of this school.

In the year 1952 a complete autonomous French section was formed and it had Sasankasekhar Boral as its first independent Director, who was the Assistant Director of the undivided administration of the school.

Ever since Chandernagore became an integral part of West Bengal on 2nd of October, 1954, the school was being governed by West Bengal State Government. In 1955, once the Chandernagore Municipal Act came into being, the administration of the school was transferred to the Chandernagore Municipal Corporation. The school, affiliated to West Bengal board of Secondary Education, currently managed and maintained by the Education Committee of the Chandernagore Municipal Corporation.

Our school Chandernagore Kanailal Vidyamandir (French Section) is a govt. sponsored school imparting teaching learning process from Class I to Class X. Most probably this is the only school in West Bengal where French is a compulsory third language for class V to VIII.

The school was upgraded to a secondary school in the year 2013 and the results of Madhyamik Pariksha is good. At present this school building was declared as a heritage building by the West Bengal heritage commission. The infrastructure of  the school are listed below:- 

• The School having a three stories building with concrete roof.
• 10 numbers of class rooms with all furniture, ceiling fan and tube light.
• School having smart class room with 10 computers with one LCD projector under ICT project.
• Computer training room with sufficient computer.
• Well maintained small activity room .
• Dining hall for students where around 80 – 90 students can accommodated at a time.
• School having its own audio system at every corner of the school.
• School having one auditorium (open on three side) of 250 accommodation in the ground floor.
• School having its own musical band system.
• 10 kVA roof top solar plant installed by WBREDA.

The numbers of students is increased gradually. As the school building is very old some class rooms are no so spacious.