A list of the awardees at the IIHM presents The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence 2021, 26th edition in association with The Bhawanipur Education Society College, partnered by Tutopia, held online on Saturday
The Caring Minds Award for ‘A School that Cares’
Sudpur High School, East Burdwan
Loreto Day School, Sealdah
The Somak Dutta Endowment
MOM Sunderbans Self Help Group
Rokeya Shiksha Kendra
Sudhu Sunderban Charcha, Hooghly
The Anand Paul Memorial Award For Social Service
Delhi Public School, Megacity
Don Bosco School, Liluah
MOM Sunderbans Self Help Group, joint winner of The Somak Dutta Endowment
Scholarships (Section 1)
The Dr. Ashin Dasgupta Memorial Scholarship
Sunanda Bera of Naryanbarh High School, Sabang, West Midnapore
The MCKV Charity Trust Scholarship
Ruksana Khatun, Moushini, Co-Operative High School, Bagdanga, South 24 Parganas
The Nabarun De Inspiring Excellence Scholarship
Shibraj Bhagwar of Mal St. Bartholemew’s High School, Malbazar Jalpaiguri
His brother Dev is getting a The Telegraph Education Foundation scholarship
The Chittajit De Memorial Scholarship
Anup Pramanik of Sabang Saradamoyee High School, Sabang, West Midnapore
The Sonika Chauhan Award for Courage
The Sonika Chauhan 27 Foundation Scholarship
Moshammad Zaherin of The BSS School
The Surrendra Paul Memorial Award For Courage
Late Cadet Amit Raj of Sainik School Purulia
Amitayu Sen of Apeejay School Salt Lake
Monalisha Gomes of Loreto Day School. She also received the Dr Anindya Kanti Majumdar Memorial Scholarship
Ishika Shaw of Loreto Day School, Sealdah. She also received the Late Debaprasad Das Purkayastha Memorial Scholarship
Richa Choubey of Guru Teg Bagadur Public School, Durgapur. She also received the Parvathy Kailaspathy Memorial Scholarship
The Bhawanipur Education Society College Honour For An Educationist
Mamoon Akhtar: As a student, Akhtar had been forced to quit school as his father could not pay the school fees regularly. Akhtar started teaching children at his Tikiapara home in 1999. He is the founder of the Samaritan Mission School where 2,500-plus students study.
Ananya Samanta, winner of The Lakshmipat Singhania Education Foundation Scholarship
The Dr Mrs N B O’Brien Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award For A Teacher
Ashok Sinha: A Karate instructor of The BSS School, he was also an avid cyclist. He got his black belt from Japan. Sinha passed away from Covid in June.
Choden Thinlay: Fondly known as Miss Marvel in Darjeeling, Thinlay had joined the Camellia School, Darjeeling, 42 years back where she headed the primary and the kindergarten sections.
Now in her late 60s, she makes it a point to go to school every day.
Inam Hossain: A popular teacher at the Mitra Institution in Bhowanipore, Hossain has provided financial aid for many underprivileged children to help them continue their studies.
Surekha Tungar: A former teacher of biology at the St Thomas Day School Tungar who hails from Nagour started her teaching career in Kendriya Vidyalaya Nagpur.
Veronica Bithi Ghosh: A student of Pratt Memorial School herself, Ghosh retired as the principal of school. She started teaching from age 21 and had even started a home school at the Binaguri Tea Estate.
Tulsidas Mukherjee: A cricket coach who has nurtured several young talents. Mukherjee has been coaching cricket for the past 30 years at different schools and at the Sunil Gavaskar Foundation.
Fondly known as TD in cricketing circles he has played for the Mohun Bagan.
The IIHM Award for Excellence in Academics (CBSE)
Lakshmipat Singhania Academy
Delhi Public School, Ruby Park
The IIHM Award for Excellence in Academics (ICSE and ISC)
The Heritage School
Sri Sri Academy
The IIHM Award for Excellence in Academics (Madhyamik and HS)
Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur
The Madanlal Dhandhania Charitable Trust Award For Academic Excellence By A Student
Science stream
Ayush Gupta of Delhi Public School, Megacity
Bratin Mondal of Santipur Municipality High School
Humanities
Meenal Suri of Delhi Public School, Megacity
Commerce
Ratna Nangalia of Agrasain Balika Siksha Sadan, Howrah
Ishika Shaw, who received The Surrendra Paul Memorial Award For Courage
Scholarships (Section II)
The George Frederick Gomes Memorial Scholarship
Chandana Mondal of AK Mitra Institution for Girls, Dhakuria
The AdmissionTree Scholarship
Pritam Parai of Karkai Vivekananda Vidyapith, Pingla, West Midnapore
The Lakshmipat Singhania Education Foundation Scholarship
Ananya Samanta of Nandanpur Rupchand Academy, Khanakul, Hooghly
The Abhirup Bhadra Memorial ‘Thank you Baba-Ma’ Award
Durand Jacobs works as a support staff at Julien Day School, Kalyani. He used to work in Dubai but returned when his wife was expecting their first child. She passed away while giving birth to their son Styrus. Durand could not return to Dubai. He used to work as a daily wage labourer with his infant tied to him with a bedsheet. He met Sheila Brougton, managing trustee, Julien Education Trust, who offered him a job as a caretaker at the school. His son is now in Class XI.
The Saradindu Sen & Indira Sen Memorial Scholarship
Styrus Agnelo Jacobs
Sandra Teresa Gomes is the single mother of Josephina Sharma and Seraphina Sharma, Loreto Day School, Sealdah, was subject to torture by her in-laws and her husband, a daily labourer. Her husband abandoned her after she gave birth to her second child Seraphina. She now runs her family by working at a tailoring shop and giving tuitions.
Sandra Teresa Gomes, who received The Abhirup Bhadra Memorial “Thank you Baba-Ma” Award, with daughters Josephina and Seraphina Sharma
The Dorothy May Baxter Memorial Scholarship
Josephina Sharma of Loreto Day School, Sealdah
The Delhi Public School, Megacity Scholarship
Seraphina Sharma of Loreto Day School, Sealdah
Shila Mitra, mother of Anik Mitra who studies in Class VIII at the St Francis Xavier School, is fraught with hardships. Having lost her husband to a kidney ailment when Anik was an infant, she started cooking in different houses and working as a domestic help to support her son who always finishes as a topper in his class.
The Indu Basu & Pritish Chandra Basu Memorial Scholarship
Anik Mitra
Sukhmeet Kaur Vohra, mother of Agam Kaur who studies in Delhi Public School New Town, lost her husband, father and mother-in law in quick succession because of Covid. She, too, had Covid and her elder daughter was on life support at the hospital. Despite all this, she has come out strong. She has started her own business with the support of her husband’s friends.
The MCKV Charity Trust Shining Star Honour
Dhurba Mukhia, go-to man at the Camellia School in Darjeeling. Mukhia had joined the school 40 years back and is a talented painter.
Jibon Banerjee of Loreto Convent, Entally. The head cook of the boarding, Banerjee had joined the school in 1994.
Prem Lal Singh of Muraliganj High School, Phansidewa, Siliguri. A support staff, Singh has not missed going to school for a single day. He has not taken a single leave since 2004 till date.
Shibnath Dutta of Techno India Group Public School, Garia. Dutta, who works as a support staff, had joined in 2009. He stitched more than 500 masks during the pandemic to distribute them.
Santanu Mitra of Silver Point School. He holds a post-graduate degree in zoology from Presidency University and joined the school in 2013 as an administrative staff. A cancer survivor, Mitra’s interests include music.
The Kalyan Bharti Trust Award for All-Round Excellence
Sreeja Ghosh, Loreto House
TTEF Award for Outstanding Talent in Sports
Koustav Chatterjee of South Point High School (chess player).
An International Master in chess, he had won a Commonwealth Gold. Chatterjee studies at the South Point High School and has represented India in a variety of international chess competitions.
Sonali Soren of Shreeje India (football player).
Sonali Soren is being considered for the under-17 Indian football team and was the best state player for three consecutive years including 2018, 2019 and 2020. She and her younger sister Shiuli are the only women footballers from her village.
The Sagnik Ganguly Memorial Scholarship
Sonali Soren
The Balrampir Chini Mills Award For Outstanding Talent
Ananya Saraf (art/design and photography) of Loreto House.
An avid photographer, she was part of the graphic and communication design internship under Oglivy Art Director and La Salle alumna Sakshi Jalan. An avid painter she was the also the artist in spotlight at Kolkata Arts Lane festival, with two acrylic paintings on exhibit.
Arnav Daga (card stacking) of Sri Sri Academy
Arnav started creating models just by stacking and gluing cards since he was an eight-year-old. He has created a 16-feet tall model of the Qutub Minar that was kept in the school auditorium
The Anirban Sinha Award for Outstanding Talent in Music
Sumoulika Sarkar of South Point High School.
A Class XI student, Sumoulika had been learning Indian classical music since she was five. She has performed at several venues across India and the US.
Bidhushri Halder of Assembly of Angels Secondary School Bidhushri
She performed at Virtual Sangeet Ashram under District Governor of Rotary International District 3291 in 2020.
The Ambuja Neotia Award for Excellence in Maintenance and Eco-Friendly Initiatives
Muraliganj High School, Phansidewa, Siliguri
The school located at the border of Darjeeling and North Dinajpur districts and was established in 2000. The school has taken many measures including setting a kitchen garden, vermicompost pits as well as organising awareness sessions on the environment. A team of international delegates from UNICEF comprising delegates from UK, Philippines, Germany, Laos, Afghanistan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand visited the school in connection with hygiene and cleanliness issues.
Shri Shikshayatan School
The school launched several environment-friendly projects including a project on medicinal plants, rainwater harvesting as well as making and installing bird feeders, among others.
The Tutopia Award for Excellence in Extra Curricular Activities
Birla High School
The school has been running a sustained campaign to save the East Calcutta Wetlands and holds regular exhibitions, seminars as well as walks and awareness campaigns on the importance of the wetlands.
Mahadevi Birla World Academy
Started its own radio channel MBWA Youth Radio Channel on YouTube to keep students, guardians and faculty members informed and help them tide over the Covid pandemic.
The Telegraph Award For The School Of The Year
Chowringhee High School
The institution distributed relief material worth over Rs 3 lakh across the Sunderbans that was ravaged by cyclones Amphan and Yaas. It also organised blood donation camps as blood banks were running dry during the lockdown. Every Saturday, underprivileged people living in an around the area are fed.
Future Hope School
Students and faculty members distributed more than 90,000 parcels of dry ration in different areas of the Sunderbans as well as across the city.
Lakshmipat Singhania Academy
During the lockdown the student council members of the school collected 667kg of rice that they handed over to the Hope Foundation and Soroptimist International of Calcutta.
The faculty members, parents and the management employees of the school raised Rs 8,70,000 that they handed over to the state relief fund for Covid-19.