MONTFORT’S SR. SEC. SCHOOL, KOLKATA
Mission Bengal
At the time of the formation of Province of Ranchi in 1989, the state of West Bengal was allotted to the Province of Ranchi to initiate some mission there. In 2001, Bro. Kuriakose Chettiath was entrusted with this responsibility. In the first week of November 2001, Mr. Martin Jacob, an acquaintance of Bro. Kuriakose Chettiath informed him about the availability of some property for sale at Kolkata.
On 12 November 2001, Bro. Kuriakose Chettiath visited Kolkata and identified a house at Diamond Park, Joka, in the territory of the diocese of Baruipur. He paid respects to Rev. Salvadore Lobo, the Bishop of Baruipur and conveyed the Congregation’s desire to set foot in West Bengal. On 03 December 2001, the Provincial Superior in Council decided to open a House in Kolkata.
On 01 January 2002, an agreement was made between the Congregation and Sri Sisirendra Nath Gosh for purchasing the House No A6/16, Diamond Park, Kolkata.
The purpose of venturing in to West Bengal was made clear in the letter of Bro. Sylvester Bara, the Provincial Superior, dated 6th January 2002. He wrote: “Montfort Bros of St. Gabriel is not present in West Bengal. It is our desire to render our services in whichever way we can…To start with we would like to have a small place in Kolkata. … once we establish ourselves, we can surely think of collaborating with the diocese in our educational apostolate”.
On 20 February 2002, Bishop Salvadore Lobo replied, “You are most welcome to open a transit house in Diamond Park at Joka. I am happy to note that you will extend your helping hand for the educational ministry of the diocese in the future”.
MONTFORT SADAN: COMMUNITY AT DIAMOND PARK, JOKA
The Montfort Sadan, the first community of Brothers in West Bengal came to existence in May 2002 with Bro. Kuriakose Chettiath as its Local superior. Two Junior Brothers were identified to do B. A. in Kolkata but because of some university regulations the plan was given up. Later Bro. Benjamin Samad, Bro. Florence Kispotta and Bro Binoy Meenattoor joined the community to pursue B. Ed.
In view of preparing personnel for an inclusive school, in June 2004, Manoj Roshan Minj, a candidate was sent to Montfort Centre for Education, Tura for two-year training in special education. After the completion of the training, he preferred to take up a job in his own locality.
On 04 April 2005, the Provincial Superior, Bro. V. K. George of North East Province and Bro. Kuriakose Chettiath visited the Bishop of Baruipur. The Bishop offered a two-storey building and 2 Cottah land in Bethune Sarani at Padampukur Road within the municipality of Baruipur for the education of the children with hearing impediment.
On 01 July 2005, Bishop Salvadore Lobo and the Provincial Superior signed the Agreement for opening a centre for the hearing impaired children and for opening an English medium school specially adapted to integrate children with hearing impediment with normal children as and when feasible.
In June 2005, Bro. Rajesh Barla joined the mission as Director of the proposed centre for the hearing impaired. Initially he stayed at the Bishop’s House, Baruipur and renovated the building at Bethune Sarani, Padampukur. He easily mingled with the local people and the diocesan clergy and prepared the ground for establishing the mission in Baruipur.
MONTFORT NIKETAN, BETHUNE SARANI, PADAMPUKUR, BARUIPUR
In the month of November 2005, Montfort Niketan- a centre for the hearing impaired started functioning with a student named Saffuiddin and Mr. Ramesh, a teacher trained in special education. Gradually the strength of the centre increased; but it always remained less than twelve. Most of the students were residing with the Brothers and a few were day-scholars.
The official residence of the Brothers was shifted to Baruipur and the House at Diamond Park was put up for sale. Bro. Kuriakose Chettiath continued to reside at the House at Diamond Park and served as the Secretary of St. Xavier’s Jr. Technical School, Basanti with effect from 1st October 2005.
Bro. Kuriakose Chettiath and Bro. Rajesh Barla put their heart and soul to the development of the centre and they fervently searched for a suitable land for the school. In November 2005, the land at Balarampur was identified and negotiations were initiated. Meanwhile the General Administration and the Province of Canada jointly came forward to meet the cost of the land.
In July 2006, Bro. Rajesh Barla went to AYJNIHH Eastern Regional Centre under Calcutta University for doing B. Ed (Hearing handicapped). During his absence, Bro. Albinus Tigga managed the centre with much care and dedication.
On 05 July 2006, an agreement was made between Nirman Associates and the Congregation for the purchase of 4.91 acres (297.57 Cottah) of land at Balarampur, Baruipur. By 19 September 2006, Registration of 4.91 acres of land was completed in four parts of 122.75 decimals each. Only 1/4th of the cost was paid by then. The Nirman Associates accepted post-dated cheques for the 3/4th of the cost. The payment would be cleared in four installments by 10 March 2008 only. Thanks to the trust won by the Brothers! The Mutation of 4.91 acres of land was done on 11 December 2007.
Bro. Kuriakose Chettiath had to undergo bypass surgery at Madras Medical Mission Hospital on 29th March 2007. Thereafter he spent a few months at Yercud for treatment and rest.
In May 2007, Bro. Rajesh Barla was appointed as the Local Superior and Bro Joseph Regis was appointed as the Local Bursar. Bro. Joseph Regis was entrusted with the responsibility of putting up the boundary wall which he completed by July 2008. He also worked as Accountant of the Diocese of Baruipur for a period of one year.
Meanwhile a Master plan of the project was prepared with the help of Mr. D. P. Sinha of Patna. It was modified by Mr. Subhmoy Sengupta under the guidance of Bro. Binoy Meenattoor who joined the community as Project Director in June 2008. On 10 October 2008, the Provincial Administration approved the Master plan, the conceptual drawings and the estimate for the construction of phase 1 & 2 subject to the authorization by the Superior General and his Council. The entire project is to be realized in five phases.
On 30 November 2008, an agreement was signed between the Congregation and the Engineers Syndicate Co-operative Society for civil and architectural works for the construction of the school building.
On 05 January 2009, the Generalate issued the authorization letter. The letter said, “The Superior General in Council gives you the authorization for extraordinary expenses for the project of Bauipur, Kolkata. However, the construction must not begin before you have enough money to start the first phase”.
The construction of Block-2B was entrusted to Sristy Enterprises on 24 March 2009.
In June 2009, Bro. Binoy Meenattor was transferred and Bro Joseph Regis was entrusted with the supervision of construction of the school building. On 08 June 2009, the building plan was approved by the Mallickpur Gram Pachayat.
Bishop Salvadore Lobo blessed the foundation stone for the school building on 27 January 2010 during a small function attended by the Provincial Superior, the Diocesan officials and the Brothers. On 21 June 2010, Bro. James T. K. took over the supervision of building construction from Bro. Joseph Regis who was transferred to the Province of North East. By this time the foundation work of the building was completed up to tie-beam.
The roof of the Ground floor (6000 sft) was concreted on 31 October 2010 and that of the First Floor was casted on 19 December 2010 and preparations began for opening the school from April 2011. Interview for the appointment of teachers were held on 25 February 2011 and four teachers were selected and appointed. The blessing was fixed for 25 March 2011.
An unfortunate event took place on the night of 21 March 2011. School property worth Rs 1.3 lakhs (approx) was damaged by some miscreants. An FIR was filed at the local police station and the blessing ceremony was postponed.
On 4 April 2011 the school building was blessed by Bishop Salvadore Lobo. Bro. Sylvester Bara, the First Councillor inaugurated the school and Bro Kuriakose Chettiath, the pioneer of Mission Bengal inaugurated the Residence of the Brothers. The school opened on the same day with 15 students and Bro. James T. K. as the principal. Later five more students joined making the strength to 20. Only one hearing impaired student named Raj Das from Montfort Niketan was eligible to be admitted in the school. With the opening of the school, the teaching at Montfort Niketan was suspended as the Brothers had to go to the school. In June 2011, Bro Albinus Tigga and Bro. Bimal Ekka joined the community.
The starting of the school was quite tough because of very bad roads and non-availability of electric supply. A Transformer was installed and the electric supply commenced on 28 August 2011.
MONTFORT SADAN, BALARAMPUR
On 4 September 2011, the Community was shifted to the school campus. Bro. Albinus Tigga and Raj Das continued to stay at Montfort Niketan. Bro Bimal Ekka was transferred in June 2012. Bro. Albinus Tigga and Raj Das also shifted to the school campus after the transfer Bro Rajesh Barla in July 2013 and the building at Bethune Sarani, Padampukur was handed over to the Diocese of Baruipur. Bro. Sunil Indwar joined the community in June 2014.
The agreement for construction of Block 1B (Montessori) was signed between the Local Superior and Mr. Indranil Bgish, Proprietor of Utsab Construction on 20 March 2013. The construction began on 2 April 2013 and the ground floor was blessed by Bishop Salvadore Lobo and inaugurated by Bro. Clement, the Provincial Superior on 20 March 2014. The construction work of Block 1A & Block 2A started on 14 April 2014.
MISSION TODAY
Today 355 students are enrolled in the school from Montessori to Class- VI. 228 of them are boys and 127 are girls. Two students of Class- VI are hearing impaired. A few hearing impaired children of locality are given coaching by a teacher (H. I. Diploma holder). The following chart shows the enrollment from the beginning.
| Academic Year | Enrollment |
| 2011-12 | 020 |
| 2012-13 | 070 |
| 2013-14 | 162 |
| 2014-15 | 228 |
| 2015-16 | 355 |
On the staff there are 3 Brothers, 14 Teaching staff and 6 Supporting staff. The management and staff are working tirelessly to provide an excellent environment for holistic education.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Within the short span of its existence, the school has made impressive progress and has become a landmark in Baruipur. The child-friendly approach of the school is gaining wide public acceptance.
VISION FOR THE FUTURE
The school is just five years old. It has to develop the necessary infrastructure for getting affiliation to Central Board of Secondary Education. The first step towards affiliation is N. O. C. from the state government. In this connection, Inspection was held on 22-09-2015 by the District Level Inspection team.
One of the greatest challenges is to strengthen the inclusive nature of the school by creating the needed facilities and appointing qualified staff for the same.
Bro. T. K. James, SG