The Ravenshaw Collegiate School in Cuttack. Telegraph picture

Cuttack, Jan. 23: National School status continues to elude Ravenshaw Collegiate School, the alma mater of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

Records displayed at the Netaji Birthplace Museum say that he was admitted to Ravenshaw Collegiate School in Cuttack on January 1, 1909, after studying at Stewart School till Standard VI.

He passed the matriculation examination in 1913 from Ravenshaw Collegiate School.

The Old Students’ Association of Ravenshaw Collegiate School has since 1996 been demanding that the school be conferred National School status. Former Union information and broadcasting minister, Sushma Swaraj, during her visit to the school in 2001, had said, “The school where Subhas Bose studied is itself a national heritage and there should be no problem in according National School status to it.”

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had also written to the Union human resources development ministry, urging that the school be granted National School status.

In spite of its historical importance, the school, which was established in 1851, is yet to be accorded National School status. Bose was greatly influenced by his headmaster Beni Madhav Das, from whom he learned social, political and economical thoughts and ideas.

It was during this period that Subhas Bose was drawn towards the works of Swami Vivekananda. “We have been demanding National School status for Ravenshaw Collegiate School since 1996. So far, no steps have been taken,” said the general secretary of Old Students’ Association of Ravenshaw Collegiate School, Rajendra Krushna Bose.

“We were hopeful when Union minister Swaraj visited the school in 2001 and said that the school where Subhas Bose had studied is itself a national heritage and there should be no problem in according the national school status to it.

“But so far, there is no response from the central government,” Bose said.

“The chief minister had also urged the Union human resource ministry in 2002 to accord National School status to the school, which was established some 100 years before Independence,” headmaster Purna Chandra Mishra said.

“National School status will facilitate building better infrastructure, computerisation and other facilities to impart quality education to the students.

“The Central funds will also help in carrying out renovation of old windows, doors and other infrastructure,” the headmaster added.

The Old Students’ Association has provided the school with some funds and other infrastructure. The association had also donated around Rs 13 lakh for renovation of the roof of the school building, which was in a dilapidated condition.

Echoing the demand for National School status, the president of the Parent Teachers’ Association of Ravenshaw Collegiate School, Jagannath Sethi, said: “The Centre should take expeditious steps to accord National School status to this school as it holds historical significance.”