Loreto College. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, June 16: Loreto College will be Southfield College from now on. The Loreto Sisters handed over the management of the institution to the Bengal government on Saturday.

“The programme to hand over the college was organised on Saturday and the entire process was overseen by representatives of the district administration. The college will be known as Southfield College,” said Rinjee Wangdi, the newly appointed teacher-in-charge.

The college, which was being run by the Darjeeling Loreto Educational Society, had been established in 1961 as a “specially sponsored” institution. The Society appointed an honourary principal and was allowed to recruit two teachers.

The new management today sought to assuage apprehensions about the overall educational standard of the college following the decisions of the nuns to move out. “We have gone through a wonderful period and we are confident that the legacy of this college will continue as the same teachers are still here,” said Wangdi, who has been teaching at the institution for the past 36 years.

The college would soon make a proposal for opening an open university and a study centre in the institution apart from improving the overall infrastructure.

The college, which has a strength of 460 students, is managed by 14 full-time and six part-time teachers, along with 11 non-teaching staff. “There are two vacancies in the non-teaching section. Six posts of part-time teachers are also vacant,” said Wangdi.

The Loreto Sisters, which follows the order of the Institute of Blessed Virgin Mary, runs 11 educational institutes, including Loreto College, in Calcutta. They also have institutes in Ranchi, Lucknow, Shillong and Dharan (Nepal) which are managed by the nuns. St Teresa Higher Secondary School in Darjeeling, Loreto Sanjeevan Siksha Sadan in Panigattha near Siliguri and Loreto Convent School in Loley, Kalimpong are also run by the order.