Patha Bhavan, Kolkata

Patha Bhavan

File:Patha-Bhavan logo.jpg
Type	Private school
Established	1965 (১৩৭২)
Founder	Satyajit Ray, Uma Shehanobis
Principal	Subha Gupta
Location	Kolkata , West Bengal , India
Campus	Palm Avenue, Bondel Road, Gariahat Road (formerly Merlin Park), Ballygunge, Kolkata
Website	Primary School Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools

Patha Bhavan (পাঠভবন) is a mixed medium independent co-educational day school in Kolkata, India, which is affiliated to the state secondary and higher secondary boards. It was established on 28 June 1965 (১৪ আষাঢ়, ১৩৭২).

History

The school was named after Patha Bhavana (পাঠভবন), the university school of Vishva Bharati University (বিশ্বভারতী). It was inspired by the education system started by Rabindranath Tagore as well as the more progressive features of the Indian national movement. It was also influenced by the Bratachari (ব্রতচারি) movement of Gurusaday Dutt.

The school was founded by the Patha Bhavan Society under the presidency of Satyajit Ray. Susobhan Sarkar, Tarun Bose, who was a judge of the High Court of Calcutta, and Amiya Bose, an opthalmologist helped Ray set up the school. Ray designed the school's logo. Jyotirindra Moitra, an exponent of Rabindrasangeet, wrote the school's song, Amader Patha Bhavan (আমাদের পাঠভবন). Others who played a pivotal role in the school's establishment included Mira Datta Gupta and Uma Sehanobis, under whose guidance a group of teachers came forward to found the school. This included Nandita Mitra and Manjushree Dasgupta, the school's first-principal and first-vice principal respectively.

Later, Santosh Bhattacharyya, and Barun De served as the general secretary of the Governing Body of the school.

Objectives

The objectives of the founders of this school, which aims to prepare its students for undergraduate level college education, was two-fold from the beginning: the establishment of a co-educational school in Calcutta which would offer education in both Bengali and English, and not placing too much stress on examinations, although half-yearly and annual tests were held from the school's inception. The first batch of students from the school took the Madhyamik (মাধ্যমিক) (Secondary) Board Examination in 1972.

Academic

The school has montessori, primary, secondary and higher secondary/junior college branches at different locations. The higher secondary branch offers subject combinations in the sciences, 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 used to have four sections, of which two were held in Bengali and two in English. Now, there are five sections, of which one is held in Bengali and four in English.

The two other languages taught were Sanskrit and Hindi, which were offered as third languages from the seventh to the ninth standards. But now the only third language is Hindi. Third language is compulsory for all 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 the Santiniketan Patha Bhavana and holds programmes which have been traditionally held in that school, such as the Sahitya Sabhas.

Sahitya Sabhas and other annual events, such as Basanta Utsab (বসন্ত উৎসব) and Shakespeare Day, are held where students participate in reading, writing and reciting Bengali short stories and poems and stage plays. Baishey Sravan is celebrated and observed every year. So is the International Mother Tongue Day (মাতৃভাষা দিবস) on 21 February (একুশে ফেব্রুয়ারি). Joy Baba Phelunath (The Elephant God) was premiered in the school.

Houses

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

• Nalanda (নালন্দা) (Green) (সবুজ)
• Takshashila (তক্ষশীলা) (Yellow) (হলুদ)
• Ujjaini (উজ্জয়িনী) (Blue) (নীল)
• Vikramshila (বিক্রমশীলা) (Red) (লাল)

Sports

The school has its own cricket and football team. The sports ground is located on Fern Road. The annual sports day is held at the Rabindra Sarovar (রবীন্দ্র সরোবর) stadium in Kolkata.

Administration

The different branches of the school are administered 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 school. The first one, in Ballygunge, Kolkata and the second one, a new branch opened in 1992, at Dankuni, Hooghly, are both administered by the Patha Bhavan Society.

Affiliations

The secondary and higher secondary branches of the school are affiliated to the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (পশ্চিমবঙ্গ মধ্য শিক্ষা পর্ষদ) and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (পশ্চিমবঙ্গ উচ্চ শিক্ষা পর্ষদ).

Reputation

According to a National school survey in 2008, Patha Bhavan was placed 7th in 'Academic Reputation', 7th in 'Honesty/Integrity', 10th in 'Quality of Alumni' and 4th in 'Value for Money'.

Location

The four branches of the school are located at four different sites of Ballygunge in Kolkata. The montessori and primary wings, which function under a single administration, are located at premises on Swinhoe Street (সুইনহো স্ট্রিট) and Palm Avenue (পাম এভেনিউ) in Kolkata respectively. The High School and the humanities wing of the Higher Secondary branch are located at 'Delta House' (ডেল্টা হাউস), 103, A & C, Bondel Road (বন্ডেল রোড) , Kolkata, although the main gate of the school opens on Ballygunge Place (now Amiya Bose Sarani or অমিয় বোস সরণী), while the science wing of the Higher Secondary branch is now located at 8/2, Gariahat Road (গড়িয়াহাট রোড) (formerly Merlin Park or মর্লিন পার্ক), Kolkata.

Notable alumni

• Paroma Banerjee, eminent singer.
• Kaushiki Chakrabarty, eminent singer.
• Kushal Chakraborty, film and television actor.
• Lagnajita Chakraborty, rising Bengali singer.
• Soham Chakraborty, film and television actor.
• Parambrata Chatterjee, film and television actor.
• Siddartha Chatterjee, film artist.
• Aparajita Ghosh Das, television actress.
• Anik Dutta, film director.
• Maitreesh Ghatak, Professor of Economics, London School of Economics, University of London.
• Amit Kumar, playback singer.
• Sandip Ray, film director.
• Gargi Roychowdhury, film and television actress.
• Srabani Sen, eminent singer.

External links

• Santiniketan Patha Bhavana
• Dankuni Patha Bhavan