The spotlight was firmly on schools which have adopted alternative teaching initiatives during the final day of the Adamas University Kolkata presents The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence 2024 North Bengal.

The Caring Minds Award for a School that Cares was won by the Prerana Educational Centre from Siliguri, which is not just an institution but a centre of hope and empowerment for disabilities.

The school was set up in 1998 by Captain JK Sengupta who lost his eyesight while serving the nation in the 1965 Indo-Pak war.

“Captain Sengupta might have lost his eyesight but not his vision,” said Barry O’ Brien, founder convener of the award ceremony and the trustee of the TTEF.

The school caters for a wide spectrum of needs from visual, speech and hearing impairments to intellectual and developmental challenges.

“We provide free of cost education, transport, rehabilitation, therapy, uniform, learning materials or assistive devices and comprehensive care, including residential facilities, to 30 visually impaired children from remote areas,” said Rita Sengupta, in charge of Prerana Education Centre.

The school, which has over 1,500 students, also runs a vocational training centre that has changed the lives of many.

Around 130km from Siliguri, Biswajit Jha, a journalist and his wife Sankukta Saha, a college professor, decided to serve underprivileged people of the area and formed the “Mandabari Model Tribal Village” in 2021 in Alipurduar district.

Jha and his wife had already set up Epic Public School in 2013 in Cooch Behar district.

“The project in Alipurduar was aimed at improving education for tribal children and creating self-employment opportunities,” said Jha.

The key initiatives included starting a free coaching school, a computer lab and a library.

For their unique initiative, Epic Public School, Cooch Behar, was declared the winner of the Bhawanipur Education Society College Award for Social Service.

The special owner in this category was given to Anandamela School in Jalpaiguri, run by NGO Eso Haat Dhori. The school started on August 15, 2021, when youths came forward to provide study materials and minimal tiffin to students from marginalised families during Covid-19.