The laboratory building that was inaugurated

The number of seats in Class XI at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur, will be increased in phases to accommodate all students passing Madhyamik from the institution, the headmaster said on Wednesday.

The school offers the higher secondary course only in science. It plans to introduce the arts stream as well, headmaster Brahmachari Turiyachaitanya said.

The school, run by Ramakrishna Math and Mission, has 88 seats at the plus-II level. Sixty-eight are reserved for its own students passing Madhyamik and the rest for students from other institutions.

At the Madhyamik level, there are 120 seats.

Education minister Partha Chatterjee said on the sidelines of a programme at the school on Wednesday that he had suggested that the institution allow all its students passing Madhyamik to study plus-II there.

Chatterjee was the chief guest of a programme held to inaugurate a laboratory building of the school.

The building was unveiled by Swami Smaranananda, the president of Ramakrishna Math and Mission.

The headmaster said the process to increase the seat count at the HS level had started last year when the student intake was increased from 80 to 88. This year the count is likely to go up to 90. “We will gradually set up the suitable infrastructure so that all our students who clear Madhyamik get a chance to study HS here,” the headmaster said.

The school, he said, welcomes the suggestion of the education minister, who is a former student of the institution.

“Ours is a residential school. We can’t increase too many seats at one go. We need to set up the infrastructure before increasing the number of seats. We will gradually set up the facilities and increase the seat count in phases,” he said.

According to him, the school sets aside 20 seats for meritorious students from other institutions who had missed the opportunity to study there at the secondary level.

“We are keen to have more seats for our students. But we also want good students from other schools to join our institution in Class XI,” Brahmachari Turiyachaitanya said.

The education minister also requested the authorities to consider opening an arts stream in plus-II.

“Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya is one of the best institutions in the state and also in the country. I have requested the school to have more seats so that all those who clear Madhyamik from this school get a chance to study their higher secondary course here…. There are many bright students who would want to do higher studies in social science…. Students will benefit if the school has an arts stream,” the minister told Metro.

The two-storey building unveiled on Wednesday is spread across 6,500sqft and has a laboratory each in physics, chemistry and biology. It also has a hall for seminars, workshops and group discussions. The building has come up at a cost of Rs 2.50 crore, of which Rs 2.18 crore was given by the school education department to set up the laboratories.