On visualizing an ideally perfect school, only Birla High School-Mukundapur (BHMS) comes to mind. Because it offers futuristic education with the help of modern teaching methodology and state-of-the-art infrastructure. 

According to BHMS’s Principal, Mrs Hira Prasad, its vision is “Freeing the mind.” The school’s mission is “To impart value-based education that will help create free-thinking individuals who will combine service with excellence.” 

The school’s ethos reflects the rich legacy of its culture and helps nurture global citizens to be leaders in an increasingly changing world. Quest for excellence at every level is what they teach their pupils to strive for from an early age. 

“Our children are our strength and inspiration. Each is a fountainhead of potential, which we recognize and respect. We have always aspired to provide learning in an environment that stimulates intellectual growth and ensures robust moral edification. We encourage our children to turn their ideas and passions into something original and valuable. We believe that a curriculum of excellence with a global dimension is central to children’s education, and this will equip them to face the challenges of the 21st century with confidence and strength of character. It must also be acknowledged that we are a school with a mind, a heart and a soul, which is intrinsically Indian. Deeply ensconced in the tradition of the land, we take pride in remaining rooted in our cultural identity while imparting an educational experience that is world-class in every respect and which prepares children for global citizenship. As we take firm strides into the future, our lifelong aim will be to produce leaders who will not only be trailblazers in their chosen field but also have the courage to be instruments of change.”

She furthers that their Signature Statement is 

Inspired by Excellence and Driven by Technology

She adds, “We believe in Nurturing Excellence. Our Theme for this year is “Inspire, Innovate, Illuminate.” 

Their special offering starts from the pre-primary level, where the students wear coloured clothes and come to school. No uniforms and no books for these pre-primary students. The pedagogy is a play-way method supplemented with discovery learning where the students learn while playing. Sprawling classrooms with floors having tiles depicting basic geometric shapes which enable a learner to understand concepts of numeracy easily. 

Well-lit, spacious, colourful, air-conditioned classrooms with attached child-friendly washrooms. Classrooms are furnished with aesthetically and ergonomically designed furniture, which promotes group learning and brings all the students close to the teacher. All classrooms have interactive smart boards having the latest technology wherein the entire day’s activity can be recorded and sent to the parents of absentees. 

Putting maths facts on the stair treads has helped the school take a big ‘step’ to make learning math easier and more visual for students since they will see the equations right at their feet every day. This unusual place will make math facts more exciting than on a wall or any other location.

Each class has reading islands in the form of a bus, hut, and a bench well stocked with story books. It will inculcate the fast-deteriorating habit of reading which will widen the horizon of the pupils.

Seeing the values daily while walking to and fro the corridor and climbing up and down the stairs will enable the students to connect with the values, and gradually, they will imbibe them.

The wide ramp, which traverses right up to the top floor, is an added attraction of the school. The display on the first landing depicting underwater marine life will take the students on a virtual scuba diving tour. It will enable them to understand marine life’s importance, arousing awareness of saving water and preventing pollution. The display on the second landing depicting the solar system will deport the students to space to understand the importance of the planet Earth.

BHSM’s library is well stocked with books the children enjoy reading. “We have a storytelling tree and reading islands, and children love the cosy ambience of the library. We also have computers to motivate the pupils to research and empower themselves.”

The School’s grounds and play area offer many sporting facilities like football, volleyball, basketball, badminton, table tennis and cricket.

Its common rooms, both for boys and girls, have facilities for indoor games like chess, Carom, Chinese checkers, and Ludo.

The amphitheatre and state-of-the-art Audio visual room facilitate staging several events and cultural programs.  

The state-of-the-art laboratories for Mathematics, IT, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Composite Lab, and Research Lab provide ample scope for experiential learning, which is the need of the hour.

Including the Financial Literacy and Master Coding program makes learning fun and engaging for students, which helps them to stand out from the other schools in the city.

Thus within a span of five years, BHSM has carved a special place in the education arena of the city and emerged triumphant by bagging the 

Best Upcoming School of the Year 

organized by Gurukul Awards. 

The following programs launched in 2022-23 will depict the immersive benefits of education and value additions offered by BHSM to its students—

Daan Utsav: The Daan Utsav or Joy of Giving Week is an initiative to put a smile on someone’s face and spread warmth in their lives. The students contributed dry food like Dalia Sattu, Tea packets, biscuits, blankets and stationery this year. The items were divided and given to NGOs, namely My Abhilasha, Sun NGO, CMIG for the elderly and to school’s in-house workers. The Daan Utsav was celebrated over three days. 

*My Abhilasha – On 22.9.22, students gave away cartons of Sattu, Dahlia, notebooks and stationery to the NGO, My Abhilasha. This NGO, which helps slum children, has three settlements. One is in Tiljala Shed, which has approximately 51 students between the age group of 10 to 15 years second is the Park Circus School which has around 30 students between 6 to 12 years of age, and the third is a juvenile home in Jumai Naskarhat, near Lakshmikantapur with 72 inmates between the ages of 6 to 18 years. On the scheduled date, the representative of My Abilasha, Ms Karmakar, mother of Arahadita Karmakar of Class I B, along with three children, 

came to Birla High School Mukundapur campus. Our students were very excited to meet and greet their new friends from Tiljala Shed. The students then took their friends to the Cafeteria, served them some refreshments, and enjoyed an informal chat. The cartons of goodies were given away with the hope that the festive time would bring much joy to them. 

*Giving Back to Mother Earth – On 22.9.22, Mrs Singha Roy, mother of Rakshit S. Roy of Class IV A, gave away some saplings and plants to the school garden to help the school further the initiative of a green school. The students planted the saplings and added the plants to the beautiful school garden. They relearned the lesson of giving back to Mother Earth by keeping it clean and green. 

*CMIG– Rehabilitation for the elderly 23.9.22: On 23rd September 2022, the student council of Birla High School Mukundapur visited an old age home CMIG to celebrate the Joy of Giving Week. Blankets, Dalia, biscuits, and tea packets were donated. The senior citizens were very happy to see the students. Stories about their lives and how they missed their family were shared. Some even pointed out that some students reminded them of their grandchildren. The students danced and sang for older people to create a festive ambience. The elderly, too, recited poems, sang melodious songs, and, most importantly, laughed and giggled, forgetting all about their woes. Their enthusiastic participation was heart-warming to witness. It taught the students that even in adverse situations, life can be made beautiful. 

*Sun Foundation 23.9.22 This NGO caters to tribal and under children from places like Sarsuna, Majherhat station and Shibrampur Underprivileged and Tribal Children. The school has been attached to them since 2019. This year, their representative, Ms Dolly Das and three children visited our school. Over snacks and juice, the students interacted with each other, sharing anecdotes about each other’s lives. The NGO was given dalia and sattu packets along with blankets and stationery. We were grateful that we could make the children smile. 

*In-House Workers 23.9.22 The students wanted to thank the in-house workers for working day and night to complete the construction of our school building. So packets of Sattu, tea and biscuits were given to each of them. 

*Soles for Souls WICCI (West Bengal Sports and Recreation Council) 26.9.22 The students gave the underprivileged their gently used and wearable old sneakers and shoes. Cartons of shoes and sneakers in good condition were delivered to the organization by the student council and our teachers. 

The Joy of Giving or Daan Utsav helps students learn the lesson of sharing and the valuable lesson of gratitude for their privileges and fortunes. They realise that the festivities can never be complete without spreading joy and happiness, especially among the less fortunate. Small initiatives can teach life’s valuable lessons indeed.

Vinisha: On Friday, 22nd April 2022, an event based on Earth Day was organized by a joint venture initiative of Vinisha, an NGO that works for the environment and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, which runs educational institutions at Uttam Manch. Around 150 students from seven institutions attended the program. Mrs Sujata Ghosh, the eminent environmentalist, addressed the students to become crusaders to save the Earth. The students inaugurated the event through a seed-sowing ceremony presided upon by Mr Ramesh Chandran, founder of Vinisha. Students were divided into two groups for a debate on “Plastic cannot be eliminated from our lives”, moderated by the renowned radio jockey RJ Arvind. 

The representatives from the school, both from Class VIII, raised pertinent points in the debate. It was followed by a two-minute video presentation on the topic “Avoidable plastics in our day-to-day life.” BHSM’s representatives put forth the adverse effects of micro-plastic in the water, which harms marine life, which was appreciated, applauded and featured in the newspaper coverage. This program also initiated the planting of coriander seeds to facilitate the Go Green Project. The students distributed almost 5000 packets of coriander seeds to everyone who visited the campus.

Switch On Foundation, under the aegis of ‘Clean Air Championship Program 2022- 23,’ organized a seminar entitled “What makes Breathing in Kolkata Injurious to Health?” at Bengal Chambers on Saturday, 23rd April 2022. Prerna Baul of Class IX attended the program. The organizers of this foundation installed an Air Veda Air Quality monitor in our school premises on 29th April 2022, enabling the students to monitor the air quality around our school. It will be an excellent opportunity to engage the students in activities like data interpretation and analysis.

Connecting Classrooms was launched last year to share the celebrations of Regional New Year amongst several Pan-Indian and Overseas schools like Birla Public School, Ganganagar, Birla Sishu Vihar, Pilani, Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti- Assam, QL School, Poland, English Waves, Escuela De Ingles, Argentina, Birla High School-Mukundapur. At the end of the programme, students become aware of the diverse culture of different states in India, Argentina and Poland. They presented songs and dances associated with the ceremony. They talked about the history behind the celebration and the food eaten during the festival. Students of BHSM gave a Math thematic lesson based on the Bengali New Year and ran a novelty race following one of the customs of the Bengali New Year. Students from QL School, Poland, could not participate in the live program, but they sent greetings through voice messages and photographs of the celebration. Students from Argentina sent a video portraying the new year celebration in their country. Students of Pilani highlighted Gangaur, that of Ganganagar focussed on Baisakhi, and the students of Assam depicted Bihu. It was a live example of Incredible India.