As the school, KANAKNAGAR SD INSTITUTION(H.S.), is situated in the farthest corner of riverine zone of West Bengal, the communication problem is still very high. Moreover, more than seventy-five percent people of the community belong to economically weaker, underprivileged section. Fifty percent people are forced to temporary migration of labour jobs in other states of India. So it seems that students are unattended at home for a long time. Here lies the real importance of our school for the student’s growth and development for the future. And teachers , members of School Management Committee and part of the community are realizing their roles and doing a lot to make difference to their lives.
As positive attitudes create a chain reaction of positive thoughts , the new journey of the school has began. The school are making plans in two-fold ways- short term and long term. With new hope of sheer optimism, some minor short-term basis changes in infrastructure has created a huge impact and changes of mindset for all.
In 2015 some local artists were asked to paint on the school building in their own way. A flower garden was introduced and parents were asked to assist it. Some trees were planted by the teachers as well as by the community . Along with these short-term basis changes, some long-term basis changes were initiated simultaneously. The changes are -
An Integrated Model of Mid-day Meal System has been introduced in 2015 in the school and is being popularized day by day among students, teachers and community around. Rain Water Harvesting, Organic kitchen Garden, Fish Farming are linked to Mid-day Meal to support the existing system and to develop this national project further as ‘Nutritional Pool’ for economically weaker and underprivileged students of Sunderbans(The largest Mangrove region) and has become a ‘Learning Junction’ of school. Students are now directly involved in organic kitchen garden and fish farming so that their knowledge of classrooms goes beyond and helps them to transform into an abode of joyful learning. The Midday meal of this school is recently connected with Biometric Device for digital monitoring of increasing number of MDM participants. An NGO, Vidyapith.net , donated Rs. 1,15,000.00 to Midday Meal project of the school. Many people from community are now contributing in kinds to the Mid-day Meal project of the school and taking responsibility of single day’s expenditure of Midday Meal now.
School Girls’ Football Team was formed in 2015 to fight against drop out and early marriage of girl students of the school. Widely circulated Daily newspapers covered the story in their front pages. People from the outside districts are also coming forward and contributing in cash or kind to encourage girl student of the school. Mr. koushik Roy Chowdhury, a football lover from Kolkata sent Rs. 10,000.00 for purchasing the trophy of the Girl-student’s Football League in 2016. An NGO, EBONG ALAP, awarded the local football coach for his volunteer service and encouraged the girl-students of school Football team. Local Panchayet and many stakeholders of Hingalganj Block Administration are directly involved to this project.
Sanitary Napkin Vending Machine was introduced in school on Teachers’ Day in 2018. It was for the first time for any government sponsored or government aided schools in Basirhat sub-division, North 24 Parganas district. Esteemed daily Newspaper i.e. Anandabazar Patrika covered the story in their Kolkata and District edition. Local community appreciated the initiative, girl-students were delighted and many NGO’s donated sanitary napkins pads for the vending machine. Enrolment of girl-students increased, drop out were reduced to some extent as a direct impact of that introduction.
A State level , zero cost , residential winter camp for 7 days was held at school in 2018. 600 economically underprivileged students from 11 districts of West Bengal participated and shared their learning. Local community as well as community outside contributed , funded and participated the camp which was probably for the first time for any government sponsored or government aided school in West Bengal. Total expenditure of the said winter camp which was approximately five lakh rupees around were funded by the people in cash or kinds. The impact of the camp was immense in academic as well as co-curricular point of view focusing on exchange of multi-disciplinary learning among students.
The project of tree plantation by the school has been transformed to Community Afforestation Programme since 2015. The tag line of ‘One Tree for One Student’ in 2015 has been merged with the tag line “Green, Clean and Sustainable Hingalganj Project’ in 2020. 1000 trees have already been planted and protected in the school campus during these years. The school is recently working with another project, ‘Plastic Free Hingalganj’ by posting free dustbins to different corners , collecting the plastics and sending them all for recycling. Different stakeholders from the community are participating, donating dustbins and joining in the cleaning programme.
A permanent Art Gallery named after the great social Reformer Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar ‘Vidyasagar Art Gallery’ has been introduced at school in 2019 for students to encourage them to move into creativity as well as to socially useful productive work. This introduction aims to a vigorous effort to link between curricular and co-curricular aspects of all round development of pupils.
Low-cost no-cost Teaching learning Material (TLM) Development Workshops and Exhibitions are frequently organized by the school to promote education as application based learning. Science Communicators Forum helped the school by funding Rs.20,000.00 in 2019-20. Many eminent scientists joined the programme this year and have transformed the project of TLM Workshop and Exhibition exemplary in school education in West Bengal.
To promote social learning among students and inculcate and practice Empathy within, ‘A Drop Box of Fellow-feeling ’(Bondhutwer Bakso) has been introduced in 11 schools as an initiative of Kanaknagar S.D. Institution in 2019. Essential things like woolen garments, geometry box, pen, box of crayons etc. which are extra or double to one will be donated to the ‘Drop-box of Fellow Feeling’ for other. A group of students will monitor and distribute those things among the students are in need as a gift of friendship. The box has become very popular now in those schools.
To break Gender Stereotypes and Gender Discrimination within school and the community at large new type of mixed-gender outdoor sports events and Cooking Exhibitions by both girl and boy students have been introduced successfully in the school. Some paintings by the students to break gender stereotypes have been published before The State Child Right Commission, West Bengal. The Telegraph India covered the story.
The journey towards light was literally begun in 1943. And we, the torch-bearers, did never stop. Students, teachers, parents and different people from our community are promised to step into another lighted pathway of the future. Now it is time to dream again together for a new era of prosperity, equality, empowerment through positive changes of lives our dear students and the environments of Sundarban-Hingalganj.
