Bankipur girls school, one of the bestgovt-run institutions for women in city

Patna: Founded by Aghor Kamini, the mother of eminent physician and West Bengal’s former CM Bidhan Chandra Ray, in 1892, Bankipur Government Girls High School has been a pioneer institution for girls in the state. The school has produced a galaxy of freedom fighters, social and political leaders and educationists, all paving the way for the all-round development of the state.
The school enjoys the reputation of being one of the best government-run institutions for women in the city, providing all modern amenities to its more than 1500 students enrolled in classes from IX to XII. There are more than 53 teachers, including 14 for senior secondary classes. It conducts classes in arts, science and commerce streams as per the syllabi approved by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB).
The school strives hard to impart the best of training to its pupils in academics as well as extra-curricular activities. Naturally, the girls of this institution have been showing brilliant results in the class X and XII examinations conducted by the BSEB every year. Besides, the students have also been winning various competitions organized in the fields of sports and cultural activities from time to time. There are two hostels, including one welfare hostel, in the school which together provide residential accommodation to nearly 150 students. The school has a good library containing nearly 15000 books on different topics useful for school students.
This institution happens to be one of the seven schools selected in the city for upgradation of their science laboratories by the experts of IIT Patna. Necessary arrangements for setting up the renovated science labs have already been made and each of the labs has been constructed at a cost of Rs 15 to 16 lakh sanctioned by the state education department. The labs are to become functional soon, said school principal Renu Kumari.
The principal pointed out that the IIT experts would help class 11 and 12 students perform 12 experiments each in physics and chemistry in the newly-set up labs. Set up with the help of IIT, these labs would go a long way in motivating the children to study science, she said.
She further pointed out that an Atal tinkering lab has also been set up in the school where students would learn innovative skills through various tools and equipment. Through this lab the students will get a platform to understand and learn concepts of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). These labs would be equipped with ‘do it yourself’ kits and equipment related to electronics, robotics, science, open source microcontroller boards, sensors, etc. The lab curriculum is unlike the regular textbook learning and is designed to spur the spark of innovation in students, she said.
The principal further pointed out that the school also imparts vocational training to the students at the plus two (classes XI and XII) level. The subjects for vocational courses include electronics technology, office management, food and fruit preservation and computer science.
She, however, regretted that the vocational courses fail to attract a fair number of girls nowadays presumably due to the fact that they do not find better opportunities of higher education or jobs after completing these courses. At present, there are altogether 37 students in all the four courses, she said.