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Guru Griho

From Mymensingh

Mahakali Pathshala has its Centenary

Aminul Islam

Mahakali Girls' School and College which first started as a primary school, or pathshala just celebrated a full 100 years in operation. Mahakhali School and College was named after the bighearted Bimola Shundari, one of the members of the Muktagacha Zamindar's family. This school has done its part to educate the women of the town.

The school started running under the name Bimola Shundari Pathshala in 1907 and was renamed Bimola Shundari Mahakali Pathshala. The school was turned into a girls' high school in the early 1950s. The college was opened in 1995 with 185 students. The number of students now is 805.

Since its establishment in 1907, many initiative-taking people improved the school and took place of its head but much of the school's history is now lost in time. Mahakhali Girls' School and College sources said that as the school was used as the camp of the occupying Pak Army during the War of Liberation, many valuable documents had gone missing at that time. Even the history of Bimola Shundari, the founder of the school had been destroyed due to the activities of the Pak Army.

Only a few names of those who served at the school as its heads were available. They are Parul Roy, Mrinalini Roy, Nikunju Ganguly, Sumiti Sarker, Aunjoly Hurr, Khaleda Rashid, Bingyan Ali, Shila Majumder, Rawshan Azad and present head of the institution Prof. Alhaj Ziauddin Shakir. Son of the Late Shamsuddin Ahmed and the Late Hayatunnesa, Ziauddin Shakir hails from village of Baghaduba in Sadar Upazila of Mymensingh. He joined the college as a lecturer in Management in 1995 after completing his Masters in Management with honors from Govt. Ananda Mohan College. He also did his MA in History from the same college.

After he took charge as the principal of the institution in 2001, the results in both SSC and HSC levels had improved. The passing rate at the HSC level was 91 percent, 97 percent and 67 percent in 2007, 2006 and 2005 respectively. The result of the SSC examination was 75 percent last year. In the same year the result in Business Management (HSC Level) section and vocational examination (SSC level) were 89 percent and 100 percent respectively, college sources said. The college now has 1340 students in three groups -- Science, Arts and Commerce including vocational and management courses. The college drew more interest after its 2002 introduction in vocational and BM courses.

The college also has good participation in extra-curricular activities including sports and cultural activities. It has earned a good reputation for very its performances in iner-collegiate debates and cultural competitions, said Umme Jesmin Nahar, a lecturer of History Department.

Mahakhali Girls' School and College has a staff of 41 teachers including 21 in the college section. But the college needs more staff to be fair to the growing number of students in the school and college level in the institution. The principal said that now the college needs more teachers.

The college also badly needs improved infrastructure and equipment. More classrooms are needed in accordance with the increasing number of students. Science laboratories must be equipped with modern scientific instruments. The college library has a collection of 6000 books, most of them are not very useful or relevant. The college runs a hostel facility able to accommodate 80 students but the demand for seats in the hostel has obviously increased in the recent years. The college authority could not provide seats in the hostel against the demands. The number of seats in the hostel should be increased to 300 to bring proper accommodation facilities for the students coming from the rural areas of Mymensingh and its adjoining districts.

The college recently had a function to mark its centenary. This included rallies and a reunion of past students.