Having studied, in the sixties, at two of Bengal’s iconic institutions, and having observed the paths these have traversed, some thoughts crossed my mind for consideration of the new government. Ballygunge Government High School (BGHS) and Bengal Engineering College (BEC), Shibpur, both run by the state government, were renowned for discipline and high academic standard till the decline of West Bengal in many areas started manifesting. Today, the state of affairs at BGHS, celebrating its centenary, is deplorable.
For BEC, set up in 1856, further decline could only be averted once the central government took it over. The upgraded and expanded Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur, inaugurated in 2014 as an Institute of National Importance, is yet to gain its rightful position, partly on account of the modest academic and research infrastructure it had inherited. Before the political landscape of West Bengal started reshaping radically – Calcutta University had been highly regarded nationally, and at least three of its constituent colleges-Presidency, Bengal Engineering and Calcutta Medical-all state government run, were reckoned among the best in their fields.
Similarly, the state had also established an impressive network of government schools spread over the districts-with Hindu, Hare and BGHS leading by example. All such schools have been continuously losing their sheen and competitive advantage. Since this has been a general trend, not confined to a few, shouldn’t the new government introspect, seek to reverse this trend, and create models for the country as per the national education policy? The commonality that underscores these institutions goes beyond their vintage, hallowed tradition, and suchlike.
The quality of the entrants, mostly from the middle-class Bengali gentry, the merit of dedicated teachers who spent their lifetimes with a rare zeal, and adequate government funding made the difference. Judged by any parameter, BGHS till the 1960s was one of Calcutta’s most sought-after schools. In its hundred years, it has produced some of Bengal’s most illustrious sons – in creative arts, academics, politics and administration.
Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Shombhu Mitra are household names. Equally significant, builders of the nation included political figures like Indrajit Gupta, civilians like Monishi Mohan Sen of the ICS to a host of IAS officers who reached the highest levels in government, two chairmen of the Atomic Energy Commission, economists and historians like Sukhomoy Chakraborty and Partha Sarathi Gupta, numerous members of the higher bureaucracy, judiciary and the academic world, besides umpteen engineers, doctors, scientists, lawyers and other professionals of distinction.
Among the top ten rank holders in the school leaving examinations, the scho ol’s record had b een consistently among the top ones. The Hindu and the Hare stood on a similar footing. Certain zilla schools were also noted for their achievements. In our batch (1966), a few ranked among the top ten in the HS examination (after Class XI), with about a dozen selected to engineering disciplines at IIT, Kharagpur, from a cohort of sixty. Sixty years have passed since then. In its centenary year, the school wears a sad look. The regular Headmaster’s post has been lying vacant since 2019, with about 40 per cent of regular teachers’ posts remaining unfilled.
New teachers not being appointed upon retirement of old teachers, economics and political science subjects are likely to be discontinued from this session. In the primary section, admission rates are falling. The last student to have been selected to an IIT happened three years ago. The road and footpaths leading to the school’s entry have been so encroached upon that none even thinks of removing and rehabilitating them. In short, distress looms large.
Despite reasons like establishment of good private schools and parental preference for English medium instruction, the situation couldn’t have come to this pass unless the educational establishment had been complicit to allowing these institutions to approach a natural death. However, not all is lost yet. Good intentions and ability to learn from mistakes can perhaps reverse this slide. To start with, let BGHS, Hindu, Hare, Sakhawat Memorial and a few other schools like Jenkins in Cooch Behar be identified, and based on expert recommendations, infused with necessary funds and revived, with a clearly defined vision of the future. If the state government is sincere in intent, a turnround is possible in the next five years.
The decline of BEC followed almost a similar pattern. India’s second oldest engineering degree awarding institution contributed enormously, together with those in Roorkee, Guindy and Benaras, to nation-building. With discipline, a hallmark of BEC, deteriorating from the time of the turbulent Naxalite days, together with inadequate funding by the state government and a dismal deindustrialization of West Bengal, the standard of BEC also started getting dented. Its transformation to Bengal Engineering and Science University did not yield the desired results. This is when, based on the Ananda krishna committee report, the union government came to its rescue. The state government, for reasons implicit and explicit, insisted that half of the intake should be from those domiciled in the state. Finally, with the NIT (National Institute of Te chnology) Ac t amende d, IIE ST Shibpur came into existence with the objective of providing 5-year integrated B Tech-M. Tech courses.
Amongst many, it faced a major problem of adjusting underqualif ied teachers (many without Ph. D. degrees) into the NIT pay scales. Besides, very few high-ranking students in JEE showed interest to pursue 5 -ye ar integrate d courses. It has taken years to address these problems adequately, and make course corrections. Now that things are stabilizing with a new director taking serious interest, and with the state and union governments on the same wavelength, isn’t it time to further upscale this institution with such a glorious past, to IIT Shibpur? In 2003, the S.K. Joshi committee had identified BEC with a few others with the potential to be upgraded to IIT level.
This was not accepted. West Bengal already had IIT Kharagpur, and many new IITs have since come up in states having none. Uttar Pradesh now has two IITs, one at Kanpur and another through upgradation of the Institute of Technology of BHU. Roorkee university and the Indian School of Mines at Dhanbad have also been converted to IITs. Such upgradation of renowned technical institutions under the Centre is viable, and even desirable under certain circumstances.
Besides satisfying the states concerned, such a move entails much reduced outflow from the central exchequer while compared to setting up a new one. Since there was some talk about an IIT in the northern part of Bengal, it may be worthwhile to consider converting IIEST to IIT, Shibpur with a large campus located in North Bengal. With new space being made available by the state, and with some additional central funding, this may also be an ideal collaborative venture between the Centre and the state government.
The writer is a retired IAS officer.