Patha Bhavan, Kolkata

Patha Bhavan
Established 1965
Type Private school
Principal Deepa Sen
Location Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Campus Palm Avenue, Ballygunge Place (Amiya Bose Sarani), Merlin Park, Kolkata
Website Primary School
High School

Patha Bhavan is a co-educational private school in Kolkata, India.[1] It was established on June 28, 1965.[2]

History

The school was named after the university school of Visva-Bharati University (called Patha Bhavana). It was inspired by the education system started by the poet Rabindranath Tagore as well as the more progressive features of the national movement. It was also influenced by the ideology of the Bratachari Movement which was founded by the civilian, Gurusaday Dutt, Esq., ICS, Secretary, Local Self-Government and Public Health, Government of Bengal.[3] It was founded in 1965 by the Patha Bhavan Society under the guidance of the film-maker Satyajit Ray, the historian Susobhan Sarkar, a judge of the Calcutta High Court, Tarun Bose and an eye-specialist, Amiya Bose. Satyajit Ray, whose contribution to the success of the school was considerable, designed its logo. The politician Mira Datta Gupta also played an important role in the school's establishment. The educationist, Uma Sehanobis was the Founder-Principal of the school. The Rabindrasangeet singer, Jyotirindra Moitra, one of the most popular mentors of the school, was associated with Patha Bhavan in the 1970s. He wrote the school's song, Amader Patha Bhavan.

The management of the school has been in the hands of eminent personalities of Calcutta, such as the well-known economist, Santosh Bhattacharya, former Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University and the historian and founder of the Heritage Movement of West Bengal, Barun De,[4] Founder-Director, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Calcutta, both of whom were for some years its General Secretary. Satyajit Ray's involvement with the cultural development of the school was immense. He played a key role in the organising of Sukumar Mela, a festival organized by the school to commemorate 100 years of Sukumar Ray's birth.

Aims

The aim of the founders was to establish a co-educational school in Calcutta which would offer education in both Bengali and English. In the early years it was a policy of the school management not to give excessive importance to examinations, although half-yearly and yearly tests were held from its inception. The first batch of students from the school took the Madhyamik (Secondary) Examination in 1972.

Another aim of the school was to impart an education to its students in an open atmosphere similar to the method of teaching followed by Rabindranath Tagore in his school in Santiniketan, although the medium of instruction at Patha Bhavan is more formal in nature. While paying heed to the importance of traditional methods of learning, the founders of the school do not allow excessive emphasis on traditional learning to dominate teaching. The institution follows the principle of secular education evident in Tagore's ashram in Santiniketan.

Academic

The school has Montessori, Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary/Junior College branches at different locations. Higher Secondary Branch offers subject combination in Science, Arts and Commerce.

Language policy

The school offers education in the mixed medium. At the start of primary school, a student is streamlined into the Bengali or the English medium. Each standard has four sections, of which two are held in Bengali and two in English. The other two languages taught are Sanskrit and Hindi, both of which are offered as third language in the ninth and tenth standards. third language is compulsory in the eighth standard for each students.

Cultural activities

Since one of the main objectives of the school is to encourage education in Bengali both inside and outside the classrooms, it culturally identifies itself with Tagore's Patha Bhavana in Santiniketan and holds programmes which have been traditionally held in that school, such as the Sahitya Sabhas.

The Sahitya Sabhas are annual meets where the students of the school participate in the writing, reading and recitation of Bengali short stories and poems. Pochishey Boishak and Baishey Sravan are also celebrated and observed every year, and a fair, Sukumar Mela, named after the humourist, Sukumar Ray, has also been held annually. Satyajit Ray allowed the holding of the premier of his film Joy Baba Phelunath (The Elephant God) in the school. Proceeds from the viewing of his other films were also donated to the school for its development. The Rabindrasangeet exponent, Jyotirindra Moitra, has been involved in the development of the school.

Houses

Students of the school are placed in houses named after four ancient Indian universities. They are:

Sports

Students play sports such as cricket, football and table tennis. Its sports ground is located on Fern Road which is close to all the four buildings of the school. It organises a sports day at the Rabindra Sarovar stadium in Kolkata.

Administration

Administration of the branches of the school is carried out separately. The High School is administered by an Executive Council which has a President and a General Secretary. The daily administration of the school is in the hands of the Principal.

Branches

There are two independent branches of the same school. The first one is the school in Kolkata and the second one is the new branch which has been opened in 1992 at Dankuni, close to Kolkata.

Logo

The logo of the school representing a "flame" is designed by Satyajit Ray, the world renowned film maker who was also a commercial artist.

Affiliations

The Secondary Branch of the school is affiliated to the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, while the Higher Secondary Branch is affiliated to the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education.

Location

The four branches of the school are located at four sites of Ballygunge, a South Calcutta residential locality: the Montessori and primary wings, which function under a single administration, are located at premises on Swinhoe Street and Palm Avenue, Kolkata, respectively. The High School and the humanities wing of the Higher Secondary branch are located at 103, A and C, Ballygunge Place, Kolkata (now Amiya Bose Sarani), (a colonial two storied building, popularly called 'Delta House') while the science wing of the Higher Secondary branch is now located at 8/2, Merlin Park, Kolkata, the former residence of Smt. Lakshmi Ray, a former Principal of the primary branch of the school. This is the house, also an example of earlier 20th century colonial architecture, that was given by its owner for the setting up of the school, but due to legal hurdles could be occupied after more than thirty years of the school's establishment.

Notable alumni

Alumni have gained admission to the Indian Statistical Institute, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, Jadavpur University, Calcutta, all the four top Medical Colleges in Calcutta, especially Calcutta Medical College, Calcutta, Presidency College, Calcutta, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Film and Television Institute of India, Pune (FTII), as well as several western universities, such as Oxford University, especially, Wolfson College, Oxford, Cambridge University, the Royal College of Art, London and Ivy League colleges in USA, such as Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts and Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Former students of the school have been awarded prestigious scholarships, such as Commonwealth Scholarship to study in the United Kingdom and Fulbright Fellowship to teach in the United States.

Judiciary

Academics

Journalism

Music

Art

Cinema

Music

References

  1. ↑ url=pathabhavan.org/
  2. ↑ "Patha Bhavan Website".
  3. ↑ Lives Less Forgotten: Gurusaday Dutt
  4. ↑ Lives Less Forgotten: Barun De
  5. ↑ Arijit Banerjee
  6. ↑ Gautam Benegal