Friends of Serampore January 2005

Thanks to the generous support of members, we were able in November to send £3000 as our main annual gift to the College, £500 more than we have managed before.
Dr Lalchungnunga wrote: Thank you. This was so timely. It helps us overcome the year-end needs of releasing more than we have to pay at other times.

In addition, we forwarded £500 which one of our members earmarked for the scholarship fund.

Giving us the news, the Principal wrote: This was a result of the contributions made by all those who have worked and studied in this historic institution. It has come as a great encouragement and inspiration to all of us now in the College. We will make more improvement to achieve A++ Grade when the next round of assessment comes after five years, and we will welcome your continued prayers and support. Praise be to our Lord.


Very smart new colour scheme	The queue on Admissions Day

The Inspectors' report makes good reference to the history of the College and to the Theology Department. Interesting snippets from the report include the fact that it is "a private Grant-in-aid Minority College" and as such has "the liberty to admit at least 50% students of their choice (but in fact) admits students purely on merit basis."

There are 2,277 students, of whom 55% are girls. Of the more than 80 teachers, 50% have Ph.D. qualification (now there's a change since we taught there in the '60s!). The "unit cost of education" is Rs.12,196 (about £148 – of which all but £10 is "salary component").

The report, gives the following scores out of 100, under seven headings:

	Weighting	Mark
Teaching-learning and Evaluation	40%	90
Infrastructure and Learning Resources	15%	90
Organisation and Management	10%	90
Student Support and Progression	10%	80
Healthy Practices	10%	80
Curricular Aspects	10%	75
Research, Consultancy and Extension	5%	75

Carey requested the Danish Governor of Serampore to establish a hospital there, but due to unfavourable circumstances the Danish Government could not do anything in Carey's lifetime. A hospital was established in 1836, a few years after Carey's death. Carey himself was unsuccessful in introducing a medical course in Serampore College in 1820. Both the British and Danish Governments approved the plan, but due to the sudden death of William Ward and Felix Carey, and paucity of fund, Carey's plan did not materialise...

[From Carey Day celebration brochure 2003, interview with Sunil Chatterjee]

Preparations for the visit took over a year, including preparation of a 200 page Self-Study Report, which makes fascinating reading, and from which the photos are taken. The Preamble contains a reminder that "Serampore throbbed with intellectual activities and was turned into the seat of the Bengal Renaissance in the 19th century" thanks to the efforts of the Serampore missionaries, including a vast network of over 100 schools, the first Bengali journal and two other newspapers, many pioneering educational publications, the Mission Press and Paper Mill, science laboratories, and India's first savings bank. "Friends of Serampore UK" is third in a list of 15 bodies giving support, mainly but not wholly for the Theology Department.

In the Physics Dept, where Edward taught, one-third of the Honours students gained 1st Class in the two preceding years, twice the Calcutta University average, with students placed 1st and 3rd in the whole university in 2003. In Mathematics, in the same years, they achieved 83% and 50% against a University average of 9%! The Physics report mentions the gift of Scientific American from Friends of Serampore.


Women's Volleyball Team	Language Lab	Men's Athletics

In Calcutta University sports, 2003-4 was a particularly good year for the college. Both men's and women's teams were champions in athletics and runners-up in volleyball; in table tennis the women were champions and the men runners-up; in yoga the women were champions; and three boys were selected for the University football team.

With so much that is positive, it comes as something of a shock to read that "due to the economic and resource problem at governmental level, the number of teaching as well as non-teaching personnel are being drastically reduced. Teachers retiring every year, particularly in the departments of Science, Commerce and Language, are not being replaced." This, of course, is far beyond the scope of any help that "Friends" can give.

In our last letter we mentioned a certain Ronald Ellis, son of a former manager of the Baptist Mission Press in Calcutta, who was compiling a website on William Ward, the missionary printer who was one of the three founders of the College. This is now on-line at www.wmward.org and is a marvellous and extensive portrayal. Ron says, Ward tends to be overshadowed by the fame of William Carey, and it is good to be told of one who was outstanding in his own right, as well as being one of the Trio.

The College has produced a Video CD, celebrating the 175th year of the Royal Charter dated 1827. We have a spare copy which we can lend out for £1 p&p plus any donation you like to add! It can be viewed with a DVD player or the CD drive on a computer. (The appropriate programme is easily downloadable as freeware if you need it – we can tell you where to find it.) The video seems "bitty", but the verdict of one viewer who had never been to Serampore was that it was fascinating.

Another 'name from the past' reached us thanks to our website – we received an e-mail beginning, 'My name is Deepa Biswas Willingham. I am the daughter of Prof MN Biswas'! Principal from 1969-72, he headed the Arts-Science Department when we arrived at the college in 1959. It was in fact thanks to his advocacy that the BMS was persuaded at that time to send more staff (ourselves!) for the A-S Dept. Again, some of you will remember him and his family – Deepa lives in California, and wanted to take her family to visit the College, as they had never seen it.

Plenty for you to get your teeth into this time! Thank you so much for your support. Do keep up the praying and the giving – the latter sent to us, and as always: if £40 or more and gift-aided, payable to Broadmead Baptist Church – otherwise, payable to Friends of Serampore.