Dow Hill School in Kurseong that witnessed a fire last week has postponed the new academic session dates for its junior section by 10 days to make fresh arrangements for the students. The session from LKG to Class III will now start from March 13.

The junior section of the school building, including classrooms, boarders' accommodations and some staff quarters, was gutted (in picture) in a blaze on February 11 night.

"The new session for the junior section was supposed to commence from March 3. But because of the incident, we have to make alternative arrangements for the 200-odd students, including around 75 boarders. We plan to defer the new session by around 10 days and want the session to commence from March 13 so that the students do not face any inconvenience," Dow Hill principal Rita Sinha said.

Sinha was in Siliguri on Wednesday for a meeting convened by minister Gautam Deb in his office. Darjeeling district magistrate Anurag Srivastava was also present. "Arnab Roy, principal secretary of state education department, had instructed the PWD to give an estimate for restoring the building. It has been stated that Rs 7 to Rs 8 crore will be needed. We have informed the district magistrate and the school that if any help is needed, we will provide," Deb said.

After the fire, the school had said its infirmary would be used as a temporary accommodation for the junior section boarders and the gymnasium would be used as classrooms.

The Calcutta chapter of Victoria and Dow Hill Alumni Association (Vadha) will hold a meeting on Sunday to discuss how to help the school. Additional reporting by Rajeev Ravidas in Kalimpong