The line-up of awardees at The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence 2009. Pictures by Pradip Sanyal and Anindya Shankar Ray

Students

• Rekha Kalindi received the British Council Scholarship. The eleven-year-old led the fight against child marriage in her village in Bararola, Block Jhalda-II, in Purulia district.

• Afsana Khatun received the British Council Scholarship. The 13-year-old is an active participant of the Child Activist Initiative of the National Child Labour Project Scheme and works on child labour in the Purulia municipal area.

• Bina Kalindi, 12, received the British Council Scholarship. She is a participant of the Child Activist Initiative.

• Abdur Rahaman Mallick received the KK Varma Memorial Scholarship. Abdur is the first son in the family to pass Madhyamik. He is currently studying English honours in Sonamukhi College, Bankura. Abdur passed his Higher Secondary exams from Rol Chowdhury Muhammad Tayyeb Institution with 409 marks in 2009 and Madhyamik with 619 marks.

• Monotosh Ghosh received The Kabir Dudeja Memorial Scholarship. He passed Madhyamik with 624 marks. Coming from a marginalised family, he balances studies with farming.

• Bholan Mondal received the Sada Sukhi Raho Scholarship. The three -and-a-half ft tall boy, who can’t walk without help, studies in Class XI at Kasthasali Nivanani High School. Bholan passed Madhyamik with 521 marks.

• Shiuly Misra received the Shalini Mimi Rakshit Memorial Scholarship. She passed Madhyamik with 60 per cent marks. Her father is mentally ill. The family earns a mere Rs 500 a month from mat-making. After a flood washed away their home, they have been living under a tarpaulin sheet.

South Point High School receives the trophy

• Arabinda Rana received the Dr Ashin Dasgupta Memorial Scholarship. He passed HS with 71.8 per cent marks from Kharui Union High School. His father is paralysed and his mother earns a small sum by selling garlands.

• Pranab Das received the Mrinal Kumar Bhattacharya Memorial Scholarship. He is a first-year medical student at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. His father makes baskets in Kalagachia village, in Tamluk, and earns Rs 1,200 a month.

• Md Ali Aamir received the Madanlal Dhandhania Award for Academic Excellence by a Student. He is only 15 and has finished his graduation in physics from St Xavier’s College. He is doing an integrated PhD at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

• Shuvadeep Ganguly received the Madanlal Dhandhania Award for Academic Excellence by a Student. The Jodhpur Park Boys School student scored 468 in HS, stood fourth in WBJEE (Medical) and 136th in AIPMT.

• Sayantan Das received the Balrampur Chini Mills Award for Outstanding Talent. The Class VIII student of Scottish Church Collegiate School was the champion in the World Youth Chess Championship, 2008. He bagged the fifth position in the Asian Youth Chess Championship, 2008, and the second position in The Telegraph School Chess Championship, 2008.

• Devankit Sahoo received The Shaw Education Foundation Award for The Best All-Round Student.

• Zubin Amit Seth received the The Telegraph Education Foundation (TTEF) Award for Courage. The student of Bhawanipur Gujarati Education Society School battles severe disability in his lower limbs and hips. He scored 93 per cent in his ICSE examinations.

• Rishika Jhunjunwala received the TTEF Award for Courage for warding off dacoits and foiling an attempt to murder.

• Sukhoo Oraon received the TTEF Award for Courage. At the age of 10 months, Sukhoo had severe post-burn contracture, when her fingers joined and attached to her wrist. After one surgery, three fingers have been released and the wrist contracture has been corrected, but she needs another one for a freely usable hand.

• Soumyadipta Kapat received the TTEF Award for Courage. Being physically challenged and paraplegic did not stop him being a national swimming champion.

• Soumyadeep Mitra received the TTEF Award for Courage. A spastic diaplegic, the Class VI student scored 65-75 per cent in his last exams.

• Oindrilla Ganguly received the TTEF Award for Courage. Oindrilla battles a disease of the spinal cord and needs a catheter that must be replaced every three hours.

• Indrajeet Pandey received the Keshav Rathi Memorial Scholarship for Courage. Indrajeet helps his mother run a stall after school. He scored 60 per cent in ICSE.

Schools

Mamata Mondol and son Sudip take the stage for the Thank You Baba-Ma award

• St Lawrence High School received The Ambuja Cement Award for the Best Maintained School.

• Akshar received The Patton Award as ‘A School That Cares’.

• Bhavan’s Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir received the TTEF Award for the Best Academic Performance by a School(CBSE).

• La Martiniere for Girls received the TTEF Award for the Best Academic Performance by a School(ICSE, ISC).

• Vivekananda Mission Asram, Haldia, received the TTEF Award for the Best Academic Performance by a School (WB Board) Special Honour.

• Al-Ameen Mission and South Point High School were the joint winners for the TTEF Award for the Best Academic Performance by a School (WB Board).

• Sainik School, Purulia, and Loreto Convent, Entally, received the Award for Social Service.

• Don Bosco School, Liluah, received the Eveready Award for the Best Extra-Curricular Performance by a School.

• Ramakrishna Mission Boys’ Home High School, Rahara, received the The Telegraph School of the Year award.

Parents

• Indranil Ganguly, Jaymangal Pandey and his wife, Ashish Ghosh, Sukumar and Mamata Mondol received the Abhirup Bhadra Memorial Thank You Baba-Ma award.

Teachers

Students of La Martiniere for Girls with their trophy

• The Frank Brothers Honour for an Educationist went to Syed Md Anwar Alam (Burnpur Boys’ High School), Sukumar Paira (Bijay Nagar Adarsha Vidyamandir, Gosaba) and Jyoti Bhusan Pathok (Manickchak Shiksha Niketan High School, Malda).

• Bibhuti Bhusan Shee (Dantan High School) received the Dr Mrs NB O’Brien Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award.

The educationist and social worker has dedicated himself to the development of his village, Dantan, in West Midnapore. He completed his Bachelor of Training from David Hare College and returned to his alma mater, Dantan High School, as a teacher. Shee, who retired as assistant headmaster of the school, taught and guided hundreds of students in his career of 37 years. He also regularly organised eye check-up, blood donation and other medical camps in his village. Many needy students found shelter in his home, with Shee even paying for their education.

• The Dr Mrs N B O’Brien Memorial Lifetime Achievement certificate went to Gillian R. Hart (Welland Gouldsmith School), Nikhil Ranjan De (Ramakrishna Mission Boys’ Home Higher Secondary Multipurpose School, Ilina Sen (Springdale High School), Manorajan Swar (Athenaeum Institution) and Winnie Elizabeth Alney (Loreto House).

Others

The Shining Star Honour went to Til Bhadur, S. Yadav, Rawdi Hembrom and Bablu Saha.

The Calcutta Club Scholarship, in association with The Telegraph Education Foundation, will start rolling from this year to five students.