A waterlogged front yard of the Bengali Higher Secondary School. File picture

Nov. 10: The alumni of the Bengali Higher Secondary School have hired three teachers in a bid to improve its education so that the school gets more students.

The number of students has dwindled drastically over the years in the school, which is celebrating its platinum jubilee with a yearlong programme since April.

The Bengali-medium school has now less than 350 students from Class V to Class XII whereas it started journey with 404 students in the very first year.

“The school does not have enough teachers to conduct all the classes smoothly. If quality suffers, students will never take admission in the school. That is why we have hired three teachers for the school in geography, computer and Bengali subjects and they are being paid from the donation of the alumni,” said Debabrata Saha, an alumnus of the school.

One of the oldest schools in the state, Bengali Higher Secondary School was set up in 1936 on a 2-bigha plot, which had been lying vacant on the southern side of Guwahati railway station.

Nalini Mohan Dasgupta, a scholar, was appointed the school’s first headmaster.

The Bengali community of the town had collected Rs 15,000 for the construction of the school building.

The school has produced many luminaries of Assam who rendered significant contributions in the chosen fields.

Kiranmay Lahiri, Birendra Guha, Gauri Sankar Himmatsingka, Amalendu Guha, Saroj Sen, Ram Ranjan Bhattacharjee, Nirendra Mohan Lahiri, Amalendu Banerjee, Satya Narayan Sikaria, Radha Krishna Siotia, Ardhendu Banerjee, Gurudas Chatterjee, Indrajit Chatterjee (who also ranked first in the matriculation examination of Gauhati University) are the alumni of the school.

Saha said the alumni of the school were mulling some steps like introduction of a school bus and development infrastructure for the school.

“If we can introduce a bus service, then number of students may increase,” he said.

The alumni of the school demanded proper attention from the state government to develop the school.

“The state government should pay more attention to develop it. The shortage of teachers should be looked into,” said Sajal Sengupta, another alumnus.

To pay respect to legendary singer Bhupen Hazarika, the alumni association of the school is organising a cultural function on November 28 at ITA Cultural Complex in Machkhowa.

“Indrani Sen, an eminent exponent of Rabindrasangeet, has given her consent to come here and perform,” said Saha.