New Alipore school alumni group funds scholarship for 66 students, gifts computers
Times of India | 14 April 2024
Kolkata: More than 1,400 former students of a state school in New Alipore went back to their alma mater, bearing Nababarsha gifts for the youngsters studying there now.
The New Alipore Multipurpose School Alumni Association gathered at the institute on Saturday and donated seven desktops and one laptop, which were primarily a posthumous gift from a former teacher, Dipak Kumar Sengupta, and RS 2.8-lakh scholarship for 66 students of classes IV to XII.The event was attended by executives, donors and alumni association members.
Former teacher Sengupta, who passed away in 2016, had handed over a donation to the alumni association in 2012. He had also instructed his son to “ensure the money was spent in the cause of the school”. “This project was funded by Sengupta’s donation. We had put the amount in a fixed deposit, and now, used the money to get the computers,” said the alumni association president, Suchibrata Gangopadhyay. “Ours might be a government-aided school, but the alumni association can still play a crucial role in shaping the future of current students. We formed this alumni association not merely to reminisce about out lost childhood but also to contribute meaningfully for the betterment of the school, which is over 60 years old.”
The scholarship was awarded not only to class-toppers but also to those “with different dreams”. “The boy who walks to school to save his bus fare, the one who aspires to sit for UPSC exam, the one who wants to be an artist—they are all as much a candidate for the scholarship as the maths and science toppers. The alumni association is for all,” said an association spokesperson.
The students were selected based on their merit and their families’ financial ability, said a school official. Headmaster and secretary of the school Nilanjan Majumdar said the alumni association had been scaling up its contribution. “I ask my students to contact the alumni for guidance,” he said. The scholarship programme started in 2007 with grant for three kids. The number of recipients and the amount had now gone up, said a member.