When she joined Bidyadhari Vidyalaya in 2001 it had tin classrooms that turned into boilers in summer and ponds in monsoon. Over her tenure as head teacher, Bipasa Das fought for development and when she retired a few weeks ago, she could proudly say that she left the school much better than she found it.
Possibly the oldest school of the region, primary school Bidyadhari Vidyalaya was built in 1942 for children of the fishing community around Duttabad (now opposite DA Block). It got acquired by the government later. “When I joined the school had 67 students squeezing in tin classrooms without electricity,” says Das, a resident of Karunamoyee.
Over time, the authorities built them a one-storey concrete building but the next hurdle came when the East-West Metro construction started. “The authorities wanted the land the school was built on,” she says. “They wanted us to relocate elsewhere but that would have affected our students, many of whom walked to school. If the school was far away, their parents would not have time to drop them off.”
Eventually the school remained where it was but much of their field got usurped by the Metro authorities. The deafening noise and screens of dust emanated from the site made it a challenge to teach next door. There was also the risk of accidents what with such small children playing around a construction site.
But the biggest challenge of Das’ career has been the pandemic. “Many of our students’ families don’t have phones or were unable to top up their balance so we couldn’t even get in touch with them. We had to go searching for their addresses and inform them to come collect worksheets and mid-day meal rations. Some parents lost their jobs and left for their villages so the kids discontinued studying. Some lost their parents to Covid and are yet to regain the mindset to concentrate…it will take time to pull up their socks,” she said.
At her farewell, the children staged songs, dances and recitations and gifted her pens and flowers. “She would be very gentle with us. We shall miss her,” said Somnath Das of Class IV. Many NGOs and social groups that would conduct camps at the school had sent representatives to wish her too.
The reins now pass on to teacher-in-charge Netai Chandra. “Bordi taught us well and we shall walk in her footsteps,” he said.