The school under construction. A Telegraph picture

Siliguri, Nov. 22: After witnessing the entry of some private players like Delhi Public School, Doon Heritage and Campion in the recent past, Siliguri’s school-education sector is set to welcome another of the same type, this one from the Birla stable.

Birla Vidya Vihar Trust of the BK Birla Group has decided to make a foray here with Birla Divya Jyoti School. To be set up at Uttorayon, 6km from here, the institution will start functioning from April 2008.

“This is our first school outside Calcutta in Bengal,” said R.K Ganeriwala, the secretary of the Trust. “Our group runs 12 educational institutions in Calcutta, including Mahadevi Birla Girls’ High School.”

Elsewhere, the group is credited with setting up some of the well-known technical education centres like Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani.

“We already have a presence in north Bengal’s tea sector,” said Ganeriwal. “Since there is a dearth of quality school-education here, we decided to make a foray.”

Malini Bhagat, the principal of Mahadevi Birla Girls’ High School, who is here to oversee some of the academic processes, said: “technology-aided education” would be the strength of the institution.

“Every classroom will have a computer and a huge TV screen,” Bhagat said. “Not just text books and black-board, a teacher will have to rely on digital notes and data to make the subject more visually appealing and comprehensive to students. This is something we have very successfully implemented in our school in Calcutta and are planning to replicate here.”

The school will be co-educational (till Class XII), English medium and affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education. However, to start with, it will have classes from Lower Infant to VII. A new class will be added every year.

Ganeriwal claimed that the school will also focus on co- curricular and extra-curricular activities. “Regular exchange of faculties with our schools in Calcutta and other places will help maintain the quality of education,” he said.

The authorities plan to begin the admission process from December 3.