History of NCE, Bengal and Jadavpur University

In the unprecedented public indignation, that arose as a result of the attempted partition of Bengal in 1905 by the then British rulers, was the realization that an educational system based on national ideals was essential for the regeneration of a nation. As a consequence, the National Council of Education, Bengal (NCE-BENGAL) was founded on 11th March 1906 by eminent nationalist leaders of the time. Some of the objectives of the National Council were:

• To impart education - literary, scientific and technical - in national lines and exclusively under national control, lot in opposition to, but standing apart from the existing system of officially controlled education at all levels....and to inspire students with a genuine love for and a real desire to serve the country.
• To promote moral and physical education
• To promote education through the medium of the mother tongue of the students.
• To maintain high standards, educational, intellectual and moral, amongst the teachers and arrange suitable training for the purpose.

The Bengal National College was established on 15th August. 1906, for the teaching of science and the humanities.

The Bengal Technical Institute founded by a different body, the Society for the Promotion of Technical Education. on 7th July 1910, was merged soon afterwards with the National Council of Education. The two colleges were virtually the faculties of "Humanities and Science" and of "Technology" of the National Council of Education. Several national schools also were founded in this period, at different places in Bengal.

With the passage of time and reduction of patriotic mass emotions, enrolment in the national schools and colleges declined, and by the end of the second decade of the century the schools and colleges were all but dead. The sole exception was the Technical Institute, which thrived and demand for enrolment far outstripped the capacity.

By 1920 many batches of graduates from the national institutions were out and established in life. A movement was spearheaded by some of the ex-students to establish an Association of the Alumni of the National Council of Education. A conference was convened at the initiative of half a dozen enthusiasts, which was attended by some sixty more. The "Jatiya Shiksha Parishad Chhatrasangha (NCE Alumni Association)" was formed on 1st January,1921 with Abinash Chandra Bhattacharya as president and Hiralal Roy and Upendra Chandra Ghosh as Secretaries.

From then on, the history of the Association and its Alma Mater are closely intertwined. With the Calcutta Corporation granting a piece of land at Jadavpur and with liberal donations from benefactors, the National Council and the College moved to its present campus in 1924, and the Association moved with it. The Technical Institute grew and was renamed as the College of Engineering and Technology.

The Alumni served the National Council by every means possible. Working for meagre or no compensation, donating money, collecting donations, working long hours, they virtually carried the institution on their shoulders during this period. They could also arrange, during this period. to finance the training of a number of faculty members overseas to keep in touch with the latest technological developments. Though deprived of Government recognition or patronage, or perhaps on account of it, the Alumni of the period grew up with a fierce spirit of independence, and established themselves in various industries, creating some of them from scratch.

During this period, the National Council was, more than once, in dire financial straits. The Alumni, individually as well as through concerted action, through the Alumni Association raised funds and offered voluntary services but for which, it is doubtful, if the Council and its flagship, the Engineering College, would have survived at all.

By the end of the thirties, war clouds hovered over the western world, and a little later it was evident that the orient also will not be spared from its ravages. Though the British Government did not formally recognize the National Council, de facto their Alumni were absorbed in large numbers in defense related and other industrial jobs. Furthermore, as the war effort of the government required large numbers of technically trained personnel, the National Council also was encouraged to increase its training capacity and money grants were forthcoming for the purpose.

With the attainment of political freedom of the country, the picture changed altogether. Financial worries were gradually reduced, finally culminating in the enactment that brought the Jadavpur University into existence on 24th December 1955. The National Council of Education, in a bold and noble gesture, gave away everything it had to the newly founded Jadavpur University and started afresh with its professed objective of pursuing the cause of National education "not in opposition to, but standing apart from" the official establishment.

The Association completed 75 years of its existence on 1st January, 1996.

It is a historically established fact that the National Council of Education, Bengal was founded on 11th March 1906, the announcement being made in the rooms of Bengal Landholders' Association. The declared objective of the N.C.E., Bengal was "to organize a system of education - Literary, Scientific & Technical - on National lines & under National Control". With Dr. Rashbehari Ghosh as the president, plans were afoot to establish a National College & School of Calcutta.

On the 14th of August 1906, a public meeting was held at the Town Hall, Calcutta for inauguration of the Bengal National College & School, the model institution established by the Council. The institution started to work from 15th August 1906 at 19/1, Bowbazar Street with Sri Aurobindo Ghosh as Principal & Sri Satish Chandra Mukherjee as an Hon. Superintendent. The institution had four departments - Literary, Scientific, Technical & Commercial.

The Technical Department of the Bengal National College & School was in charge of B.B.Ranade, L.M.E. of Victoria Technical Institute, Bombay. He was a Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering and was also founder Superintendent. of the Mechanical Workshop. V.K.Paranjape, L.E.E. of Victoria Technical Institute, Bombay joined next as a Lecturer in Mechanical & Electrical Engineering. The other teacher in the Technical Department was Sri Nagen Rakshit, Foreman Instructor.

The teaching section of the Technical Department imparted both theoretical ("by means of lectures on the various subjects connected with Mechanical Engineering") and practical ("by means of a course of practical work done by students in the several engineering workshops of the department - the carpenter's shop, the blacksmith's shop, the moulder's shop and the Machine shop"). Other subjects taught included: Drawing - freehand & Mechanical, Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics. The working hours were from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Besides, there was a Manufacturing section of the College - which did some industrial works relevant for that period, details of which are well documented.

The "three dimensional" system of education, as taught in the National College & School, imparted education also by the sense of touch as added to the sense of seeing & hearing. Thus, practical handling, shaping, breaking, analyzing & measuring of materials was an important part of the training imparted in the Technical Department of the National College.

On the very day (June 1, 1906) the N.C.E., Bengal was officially registered, a second organization, rival to the NCE (as told by Sri Haridas Mukherjee, the historian) was established mainly by Sri Taraknath Palit, named Society for Promotion of Technical Education (S.P.T.E.). The later founded the Bengal Technical Institute on 25th July 1906 at 92, Upper Circular Road. The scheme of studies of the Bengal Technical Institute, whose first principal was Sri Pramatha Nath Bose, included engineering departments of Mechanical & Electrical. BTI also had a manufacturing Department. Record also shows that the permanent principal of BTI was Sri Sarat Kumar Dutta (appointed in 1909).

Record shows, on 25th May 1910, the S.P.T.E. was wholly amalgamated with the National Council with its property and assets with the condition that half of the income of the National Council will be earmarked for technical education. However, the premises of Bengal National College moved to that of BIT at 92, Upper Circular Road - the combined name was Central National Institution. Management of the combined institute came under the National Council of Education, Bengal.

In 1922, 100 bighas of land were acquired by NCE, Bengal at Jadavpur and on 11th March 1922, Sri Ashutosh Chaudhuri inaugurated the Aurobindo Building, presently the main building of the Jadavpur University. In 1928, the Institute (the combined) was named the College of Engineering & Technology. Later, on 24th December 1955, Jadavpur University was established with Dr. Triguna Sen as the Rector (equivalent to Vice Chancellor).