LMC News

Headline: New La Martiniere to go Co-ed

By a Telegraph Staff Reporter: Calcutta December 8, 1995

La Martiniere is all set to open its first co-educational school in India in this city, on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. The Principal of La Martiniere for Boys, Mr. Donald Alney, disclosed in an interview to Derek O'Brien, in a programme "Good Evening Calcutta", to be broadcast on HMV FM at 6 pm tomorrow. The school, the third La Martiniere in Calcutta after the existing La Martiniere for Boys and for Girls, will be, in Mr. Alney's words, an institution "which will compare favourably with any school anywhere in the world." Mr. Alney said that he is negotiating with the state government for the land on which the school will be built. "We do not need their money. We just need the land at the special rate at which they are selling it," he said in the interview. Mr. Alney said he was looking for land between 20 and 25 acres, but the government was willing to give him an option between two plots of five and seven acres. "Beggars cannot be choosers," Mr. Alney regretted, adding that he will be settling for the larger of the two plots. He hoped that it would be possible for them to acquire more land in the future. "We have got in touch with the government. But so far, we are patiently waiting for the sanction," he remarked. "The ball is now in the court of the government. As soon as they sanction the land, we will be ready to push the project off the anvil," Mr. Alney said.The land allotted for the proposed school is lesser than the land on which the girls school is situated. The girls school takes up more than 7 acres, while the boys school is on a plot between 9 and 10 acres. "We want more land, otherwise there can only be one playfield and if football is on, no other game can be played. Ideally, we would want football, tennis and basketball to be played at the same time," Mr. Alney said. He added that he had been given to understand that the papers were with the chief secretary, following their submission. They are now awaiting the assent from the government. Although there were only "rumours" in the school about the new project, few of the teachers or students actually knew about what was going to happen. The school, which will go from lower nursery to Class XII, will be built in a phased manner. "Admissions to the school will also take place in stages," Mr. Alney said. The periods will be thus be adjusted so that the classes in the lower section do not coincide with those of the higher section. "Recruitment to those classes will have to take place gradually." The governing body of the school will be the same as the existing La Martiniere schools. The chief trustee will be the Calcutta high Court, according to the constitution of the school. Mr. Alney expects the school to be operational within a couple of years.