Nearly 50 years ago, when I was a student of chemistry honours at Vidyasagar Day College, Kolkata, I met a young energetic boy in my class. I vividly remember his big eyes as well as the expressions of his big heart. He was very concerned about the suffering of the poor people and social inequalities prevalent in our country. He was interested in myriad pursuits such as filmmaking, writing novel, ijournalism and the profession of a lawyer. He is my friend Samir Saha. Coincidentally, his wife Mousumi Saha was my ex-student in Scottish Church College.
One day in the early 2000s, they very enthusiastically revealed to me their plans to establish the National English School, Baguiati, an ICSE-affiliated educational institution. I fondly remember that I drew the symbol of the school with a sketch of a flying swan made by the acronym ‘nes’, the motto ‘Dare to Know’ engraved at the bottom. The great German philosopher Immanuel Kant used this phrase, ‘Dare to Know’ ( _sapere aude_ ) in his famous essay ‘What is Enlightenment?’ (1784). He wrote that the basic principle of the European Enlightenment (i.e., Western Modernity) is to have courage to know using your own reason. Modern man must exit from his self-incurred immaturity and dependence on others. Somewhat guided by this philosophy, National English School began to move on.
The journey was initiated with a group of active and sincere teachers, the ardent couple Mousumi Saha and Samir Saha at the helm, the hard-working non-teaching staff, and the amiable bahadur. Gradually, thousands of students joined, some of them securing brilliant academic results in Board examinations as well as impressive performance in extra-curricular activities.
The indomitable couple further advanced with their enterprising spirit and in 2008, founded the National English School, Rajarhat. As per reports, excellent Board results have been achieved both in ICSE and ISC examinations. The schools have also won the position of National level winners in some sports and games and co-curricular activities like quiz and other items.
Subsequently, the committed couple further inaugurated the National College of Education in 2017 with a view to provide specialized teacher training.
In 2025, as the National English School celebrates its Silver Jubilee ceremony on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, I most earnestly express my cherished hope that it will continue to uphold its well-known Kantian motto: “Dare to Know”.
Dr. Pradip Basu, former Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, ex-Head & Retired Professor of Political Science, Presidency University, Kolkata.