West Bengal institute among world's top 10 inspirational schools

KOLKATA: A school in West Bengal's Howrah district has achieved the feat of being one of the world's top 10 inspirational schools, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday. She congratulated Howrah's Samaritan Mission School for this achievement and said this was awarded by a UK-based research organisation T4 Education in partnership with some internationally acclaimed bodies “Happy to know and share that Samaritan Mission School of Howrah is amongst ten top inspirational schools all over the world,” Banerjee tweeted.

Happy to know and share that Samaritan Mission School of Howrah is amongst ten top inspirational schools all over the world. (1/2)

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) June 10, 2022

“They have achieved this under the category of overcoming adversity, as shortlisted for the World's best school prizes, by UK-based research organization T4 Education in partnership with some internationally acclaimed bodies. Kudos and best wishes,” she added. T4 Education is a global organisation committed to providing engaging tools, initiatives, and events for teachers to improve education.

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Mamoon Akhtar, the founder of Samaritan Mission School, said he is happy that the institute got the honour. "The chief minister has tweeted about a school in a slum area... it is a great respect for us," said Akhtar who studied only up to Class 12 due to financial constraints. The institute, besides education, provides vocational training to students, local women and those who are victims of domestic violence. "We started with only three students in 2001. The fee was only Rs 5 a month. It now has 6,500 students, mostly from poor Muslim and Hindu families, who get high-quality English education. Now the fee is Rs 200 per month for those who can pay. Others pay less," he said.

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Akhtar said he got help from various persons, the state government and a US Consul General in Kolkata and his wife over a period of time. He said both Muslim and Hindu festivals are celebrated in the school and no discrimination is made between pupils of different faiths.