There must be some who remember the good-old days when the dhoti-clad ?master? would teach a handful of students who had probably travelled a long distance to get to the school. That was a different time and today, the scenario is completely different. Or is it?

Those who take a look at St Aloysius High School may be in for a little surprise. Essence of that ?good-old? discipline and decorum, that many thought had died with the ?paathshaalas?, is still alive and thriving in this school. So, there are no dhoti-clad masters, but the old-school ideas of respect, strict rules and norms are still pretty much a part of St Aloysius.

People say that good things come in small packages, the saying is true for this school. What started as a small hut, thanks to the initiative of Jesuit priests, is today a full-fledged school that teaches kids for free. Now, that is something we hardly get a chance to write about.

Jesuit priests from Ranchi started the school in 1902. The school was started with the purpose of educating the poor and marginalised children from the city. It was barely a hut then.

Later in 1956, the school was taken over by St Aloysius High School Society. Slowly and steadily the concrete building built over three-acre area came up in 1974.

Special school

This feature of the school is so unique that it deserves a special mention. The students do not have to pay any fees, the trust and parents who voluntarily choose to donate take care of the expenses.

Socially aware

Most of the students who study in this school come from poor economic backgrounds. From the onset the management and the academic staff understood that just the syllabus would not be of any help to them. After all, the focus was to make all students independent, and not just literate. Thus, instead of pursuing half-baked ideas of formal education, the goal is to embrace competitive skills and programmes that can bring the talents of these children into the mainstream.

Keeping this in mind, the school formed an ?Aloysius Old Boys? Association?, where former students from the school, who have made it as doctors, engineers and management honchos, give tips to the present batches as to how to crack the competitive examinations.

Likewise, the school also has established the ?Minerva Youth Group?, which was formed by ex- students. The group is involved in different types of programmes through which computer literacy and three-month-long English language courses are conducted. Besides, the group is also involved in personality development courses and group discussions, the training of which comes to use in professional fields. These courses are beneficial for students who cannot afford to shell out large amounts of money for such courses. The school lays more stress on providing support to the poor students and the result is cent per cent.

Infra talk

The school has new plans on anvil to open a mathematics lab to provide guidance to weaker students.

It will also introduce an audio-visual laboratory keeping in tune with the latest techniques of education. The school also plans to introduce Plus Two in two streams, mainly science and commerce.

To encourage students into sports and extra curricular activities it has facilities for games like carrom, basketball, table tennis, shuttle and chess. Besides, the students can also take part in different competitions like essay and speech,writing, drawing, quiz and PT meets. There are also inter-class mathematics competitions to help students develop a feeling of working together as a team.

There are 15 classrooms and basic facilities like physics chemistry, biology and computer labs.

Travel tips

To give all students a taste of the world outside, pupils are taken to trips to several places all over India.

Students have so far travelled from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Recently they visited Puri for a week. Plans have also been made to take students to Mussourie, Dehradun and Delhi during the summer.

Clubbed together

The school has 32 scouts. Plans are that they would be taken to Hazaribagh to receive training. There is also an NCC group.

The social work group in the school helps children from slum areas. They collect clothes for them.

Teach 'em well

The school also conducts teacher-training programmes where the academic staff members are taught innovative ways to make classroom teaching more fun and less intimidating. During training, teachers are given tips on their role in the school and how they can deal with students and their problems.

fact sheet

Name: St Aloysius School, Ranchi

Address:St Aloysius SchoolPurulia Road,Ranchi - 834 001

Phone Number: 2350964

Number of students: 962

Number of teachers: 17

Classes: Classes VII to X

Principal: Brother Tobius Kerketta

Fees: The school does not charge any fees from the students. The school is run on the contributions made by the trust and the parents.