Central Railways School, Kalyan to turn 100 on 26th April 2018

“Empower each student to be fit for Leading Quality and Productive Life after schooling and Make every member of the school family a contributing member towards the fulfillment of our mission”, is our mission and the vision, said Jacob Thomas, Principal, Central Railways school, Kalyan.

KALYAN: The two-story building of the Central Railway School and Junior College on a busy lane on the Murbad Road in Kalyan, West may not be an instant head-turner. Occupying almost three acres of space, the school remains a popular landmark.

On April 26, 2018, the CRS is set to turn 100 since it was started by a British officer Mrs. Wright, remembered only by her surname, to enroll children of the then railway officers. Indian railways at present runs at least 100 railway schools started by the Britishers.

Started in 1918, Central Railway School remained a Montessori till the first batch of students studying in standard 10th passed out in 1974. The school at present takes classes till standard 12th offering science and commerce streams.

“Very little is known about the history of this school. Mrs. Wright, who was the wife of a railway officer, is known to be the first principal of the school. The school tried to locate the name sign (made of rosewood ) that contained information about the former school staff but to no avail,” said Mr. Jacob Thomas, principal of the Central Railway School, Kalyan.

“We had filed a Right to Information query to avail more information about the school’s history but we did not get much on it. We plan to connect to our sources in the United States and England to see if they know of anything,” said Thomas, who has been the principal for four years.

With 1,700 students, the school accommodates two sections in each class till standard 11th. In 2003, the school included Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) curriculum, that limited the intake of students to 40 per class.

“While 60 percent of the students studying in the school are children of railway employees, the school remains popular among children in the adjoining central suburban area beyond Kalyan and west,” Thomas added.

Senior railway officers in Mumbai division, including the Divisional Railway Manager of Mumbai division in the Central Railway, who is the patron and Senior Divisional Personnel Officer, Mumbai division, forms the controlling officer for the school. It is funded by the railways.

“The British left us with the building, it is the Railway Administration that has tried to maintain the assets. From winning accolades for preserving greenery in the area to working towards digitizing school children’s data, we have come a long way. Boasting of multiple green spaces, we plan to apply to the Indian Green Building Council to receive the ‘green building’ tag.” Principal Jacob Thomas said.

At an earmarked fund of Rs 3 crore from the railways every year, improving infrastructure and restoring certain artifacts of the school remains the aim.

“We have tried to repair the old stairs, polished old cupboards made of Burma teak in restoring heritage. Alumni, including citizens staying in the United States and England, visit us sometimes and recall their school days,” Thomas added.

Increasing the student intake of classes and applying for world heritage status are on the school’s ‘to do’ list, he said.

Manasa Rupa (14), a student of Class IX, who has painted the school walls, said, “My father is a railway employee and connecting with other students whose parents work in the same field is a routine. When we pass out of this school, we would always cherish our contribution to this heritage institution.”

MISSION

Empower each student to be fit for Leading Quality and Productive Life after schooling. Achieve the goals visualized in National Policy of Education. Make pupils contributors in making India a better place to live in.

VISION

Make every member of the school family a contributing member towards the fulfillment of our mission. Adopt child-oriented educational technology and innovative methods through the integration of information technology in the curriculum. Continuous improvement of the quality of learning through regular review and constant monitoring. Adopt holistic methods in teaching for improved performance according to the potentialities of students. Make the school a feeder unit for producing inputs required for future engineers, medicos, chartered accountants, technocrats, entrepreneurs and great human beings.

BEST SCHOOL OF CENTRAL RAILWAY

Best School of Central Railway in 2006 and 2010. It also bagged Best Teachers Award consistently for eight times and Best Teacher in Indian Railways once and Best Student of Central Railway thrice as per Railway Board’s parameters. The IT Literacy Project of the School has been identified by Railway Board for implementation at national level.

UNPSA INDIA FINALIST 2007

The Computer Literacy Project pioneered by Jacob Thomas, the then Sr. PGT of the School was shortlisted for United Nations Public Service Award 2007 for preliminary, first, second and final rounds from India. Finalist for UNPSA, and invited for paper presentation in the UN conference at 7th Global Forum for Re-inventing the Government held at Vienna.

Photo Caption: Jacob Thomas receiving the National First Prize for Excellence in Computer Education on behalf of the Central Railway School, Kalyan from Hon’ble President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam on 7th December 2005 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.