Gandhi Ashram School
Gandhi Ashram School is a Jesuit Educational Institution in the Eastern Himalayan with a musical twist. The private unaided, co-educational English medium school was started in 1993 by Fr. Edward McGuire SJ, a Canadian Jesuit priest and is situated in rural Kalimpong. It admits students of the local community as well as from remote areas that come from low-income and difficult backgrounds, providing tuition-free education and taking care of their nutritional and health needs. There is a special emphasis on the education of the girl child and first generation learners.
| Gandhi Ashram School, Kalimpong | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| |
Ngassey Busty, 6th Mile Kalimpong , West Bengal , 734301 India | |
| Coordinates | 27.0589441°N 88.443766°E |
| Information | |
| Motto | In Harmony |
| Established | 1993 |
| Founder | Fr. Edward McGuire SJ |
| Director | Fr. Paul D'souza SJ |
| Principal | Fr. Binod Kerketta SJ |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Age | 4 to 16 |
| Language | English |
| Website | www.facebook.com/gandhiashramschool |
Alongside academics, the school provides a solid foundation in the arts - fine arts, drama and music. The Choir and String Orchestra of the school is renowned for their performances locally, nationally and some of our students have also played internationally. The Fr. McGuire Music Scholarship Fund has been established to provide scholarship to deserving students to secure certification in international music exams. The Strings Concert Tour Project of the school has been bringing highly skilled local musicians and our students together since 2011 to provide a platform for quality orchestral and choral music and raise funds for the scholarships.
The school has a no child left behind policy and is evolving a model of education that is relevant to the needs of the times, focussing on life coping skills and becomes a joyful learning experience for students. Teachers are encouraged to continuously develop themselves and bring into the classroom best practices from contemporary research in the field of education. Students are at the centre of the learning process and the instruction is directed to the development of their whole self, keeping in mind that they will be leaders of tomorrow and become agents to change the realities that they live in.
The infrastructure that has been developed is of a high standard for Kalimpong and allows for further development of programs at the school, especially the move to government recognition and formal education with the introduction of the 9th year of schooling in 2020. Previously, students attended schools in Kalimpong town post their 8th year at the school through full or part scholarship. The auditorium was inaugurated by Fr. Arturo Sosa Abascal SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus in March 2020 and on completion, will boast of state-of-the-art facilities to serve the school’s arts programme and also schools and organisations in the region.
The school takes pride in working with volunteers, international and local partner organisations and collaborates with the government to bring quality education and health services to a community that is underserved. Alumni of the school have branched out into the entertainment, education, health, social service, aviation, tourism, construction and hospitality sectors and also in the armed forces and public sectors, indicating the impact that the school has had through its 26 years of existence.
Gandhi Ashram School is ultimately, a close-knit family, where parents contribute to the school in cash or through labour, voluntarily, and many of the teachers are alumni of the school.