Suraj Kanya Shikshalaya pioneer in educating girls

New Delhi, Apr 15: It is 103 years old and still setting standards in imparting education to girls.

The Suraj Kanya Shikshalaya, the junior wing of the 1904 established Inder Prastha (IP) school, was recently honoured with the Best School award at the Zonal Award Function for achievements in academics, co-curricular activities and highest number of scholarships.

Despite being an MCD-aided institution, the school, located in the Old Delhi's Naiwara area, emphasises on overall development of its pupils.

''We try to maintain high standards of education. Efforts are made to make our students equal to those from public schools,'' said a proud Kamal Kanta Jaitly, Principal of the school.

Ms Jaitly, who received the award from Director of the Education Department Indira Yadav, said besides academics, the students were encouraged to take up activities like karate, dancing and singing.

''We might have space constraint but we try to make up for it... the girls are encouraged to take up different activities,'' she added.

The Shikshalaya, a Hindi medium school, has many achievements to its credit for which it was awarded.

The school, which has 350 pupils and 11 staff members, boasts of the maximum number -- 52 -- of MCD scholarships in the previous academic session.

''We also conduct special classes for the girls... not only in academics but also in dance and music,'' said Ms Jaitly.

The Shikshalaya, was shifted to its present location in 1924, after the IP school, the oldest all girls school, as part of the expansion plan and was named after the person who donated the land.

UNI