PRINCIPAL’S REPORT FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2018 – 2019 Released on Prize Day, Saturday, 27 April, 2019 in the presence of the Chief Guest, Padma Shri Professor Balram Bhargava (Alumnus, Lyons House) Secretary, Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, & Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) This is the Report on the 173rd academic session of La Martiniere College, Lucknow. The Academic Session began on 09 April, 2018 and concluded on 31 March, 2019. TRUSTEES AND GOVERNORS The following changes in incumbency took place among the ex-officio Trustees and Members of the Local Committee of Governors: Mr Rajive Kumar, Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh was replaced by Mr Anup Chandra Pandey who continues to serve as Senior Trustee. Mr Umesh Kumar, Principal Secretary (Judicial) and Legal Remembrancer to the Government of Uttar Pradesh and Trustee, Lucknow Martin Charities was replaced by Mr Dinesh Kumar Singh, who continues in that office. Among the members of the Local Committee of Governors, the following changes took place: Mr (Justice) Vikram Nath, former Senior Judge of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court and Chairman of the Local Committee of Governors, was replaced by Mr (Justice) Ajai Lamba, who in turn was replaced by Mr (Justice) Pankaj Kumar Jaiswal. While welcoming each new member from among the Trustees and the Local Committee of Governors, thanks are extended to the officers who served in those capacities earlier, for their contribution to the College. BEREAVEMENT The College is sad to announce the death of Mr Zia Azeem, Caretaker of the College, on 18 September, 2018 after a brief illness. Mr Azeem served in this capacity from October, 1990. He is mourned by his wife and three children. A solemn Condolence Service was held in the College Chapel, attended by all staff and Resident Scholars. The College flag was lowered to half-mast. Senior pupils of the College attended the last rites that evening. STAFF COLLEGE STAFF Retirement At the end of the academic session, the following persons retired after many years of devoted and efficient service. Mrs Daphne Egbert was appointed on 10 July, 1999. She gave her professional best to pupils in the Junior School. Her contribution in all fields of School life was been special. A generation of young men have been instructed by her. Mr Vijay Kumar Srivastava was appointed on 14 May, 2001. Mr Srivastava worked in various capacities for computer maintenance. He also contributed in the setting up of digital education facilities in the different Sections of the College. Mrs Nita Singh was appointed on 1 January, 2006 to teach music. She was most appreciated for her efforts with the junior-most pupils of the College, for whom she was a much loved teacher who combined learning and discipline with entertainment. Appointments Headmistress of the Junior School Following the retirement of Mrs S.R.S. Santram, Mrs Anna Maria Gomes, a teacher in the Junior Campus was selected as the Headmistress of the Junior School. She is wished every success in her supervision of all matters related to the Junior School. The following appointments were made during the year: Mrs Maryann Thomas as Matron of Dormitory 4 Mr Abhishek Issac Dass as Nursing Orderly Mr Christopher Jeremy Dueman as Assistant Teacher (English) Mrs Fiona Hopkins as Assistant Teacher Mrs Priya Kapoor as Assistant Teacher Mr Tony Christopher Mcluskie as Sports Coach and Assistant Warden Ms Kritika Ramona Santram as Assistant Teacher Each member of Staff is wished a long and happy tenure in the College. Resignation Ms Mohsina Mirza, Assistant Teacher, resigned on 09 March, 2019 for better prospects. Mrs Deepanjali Figg, Assistant Teacher (Special Education) resigned on 31 March, 2019 for personal reasons. Extension of Service Mr D. J. Thapa was granted another extension of service to supervise Security and Sanitation. Mr Colin Aitkins was granted an extension of service in the Catering Department. Mrs Sandra Martin was granted an extension of service as Dormitory Matron. Awards for Long and Meritorious Service Mr Vinay Misra and Mr Desh Bandhu Tripathi completed 25 years of meritorious service on 1 October, 2018 and 3 January, 2019, respectively. While felicitating them for reaching this milestone, the Local Committee of Governors shall, as per the practice, sanction two advance increments to their monthly salary. They shall also receive a purse each of Rs 25,000/- as a token of esteem on Prize Day, 2019. Mrs Runa Mukherjee and Mr Alfred Gomes completed 20 years of service on 01 April, 2018 and 08 July, 2018, respectively. While congratulating them on reaching this significant milestone, they shall be presented a medal for long and meritorious service at Prize Day, 2019. Mr Mohammad Naim fondly referred to as ‘Captain’, the long standing bearer in Dormitory 3, completed 25 years of meritorious service in the College on 2 January, 2019. The Local Committee of Governors shall, as per the practice, sanction two advance increments being added to his monthly salary and a token purse each of Rs 10,000/- be presented on Prize Day, 2019. ACADEMIC ENROLMENT As on 31 March, 2019 there were 3899 pupils on the roll of the College. This includes, 356 boys in the Preparatory Department. The day-scholar strength was marked at 3459. There were 440 Resident Scholars of whom there were 98 Foundation pupils. Children of Staff of both Lucknow La Martiniere Colleges totalled 143. SCHOOL LEAVING EXAMINATIONS Indian School Certificate (ISC) Year 12 In March 2018, 216 candidates were registered for the ISC (Year 12) Examination conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations. 212 were awarded Pass Certificates. Shikhar Tripathi of the Humanities Stream stood First in overall order of merit, securing an aggregate of 98.5% in the four best subjects. Divyansh Srivastava was placed First in the Science stream with an aggregate of 98%. Mohammad Sami Mirza achieved the First position in the Commerce stream with an aggregate of 93.5%. Perfect scores of 100 marks each were achieved in Economics by three boys; Political Science by four boys; Physics by one boy; Computer Science by three boys and a record of 13 boys in Physical Education. Indian School of Secondary Education (ICSE) Year 10 For the ICSE examination conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations in March 2018, 374 candidates were registered of which 373 wrote the examination. 372 boys were awarded Pass Certificates. Marut Gupta stood First in overall order of merit, securing an aggregate of 97.8% in the five best subjects. He has also been awarded the Mrs Shanti Devi Sahai Memorial Medal for the pupil with the highest marks in both La Martiniere institutions in Lucknow. Aryan Ahuja and Ayan Ahmad received the Second position with an aggregate of 97.6%. Ishan Gupta, Yash Narain Agarwal and Shiv Sawhney were placed third in rank with an aggregate of 97% each. An analysis of the Results is included in Appendix I HEALTH & CATERING Overall health in the Boarding House was good, with the usual seasonal illnesses, and the occasional sports casualties. We are grateful to the visiting physician, Dr Mukesh Handa, and to the Hospital Matron, Mrs Shiney Oommen and Mr Abhishek Isaac Dass, the nursing orderly for supervising the health of the boys. Dr Karan Punn serves as honorary dentist to pupils and Staff in the College, while Dr Sumit Gupta serves as the honorary consultant dermatologist. The College is grateful for the services of each of these medical professionals. The Dormitory superintendents, sanitation and ancillary staff ensure that personal hygiene is a top priority. The College is grateful to them. The College is deeply grateful for the excellent service provided by the kitchen and dining hall staff, ably supervised by Mr Trevor Medley, Steward and Mr Collin Aitkins, Housekeeper. Senior boys serve on the Food Committee and provide a daily appraisal of meals along with participating in the planning of menus. NEW SUBJECTS Following the practice of offering a wide variety of subjects to the pupils of the College, the Local Committee of Governors has been requested to approve the introduction of teaching of significant subjects from the new academic session of 2019. Environmental Science is sought to be introduced for pupils to receive a foundation in a subject of great social value which retains the scientific spirit in training the mind. On the request of the senior pupils, Legal Studies and Hospitality Management is sought to be introduced considering the high employability which these subjects of study offer. APPOINTMENT OF DEAN, RESIDENT SCHOLARS The strength of the Boarding House has increased in excess of 500 residents. The academic component of their attendance in the College is now supervised by Mr Allen Morrison who has been designated Dean, Resident Scholars. Supervised study, interaction with individual teachers, inspection of exercise books, a record of behaviour and weekly submission of academic reports to parents via e-mail forms the major part of this duty. FEE REGULATION ACT In September of 2018, the Uttar Pradesh State Government passed the Fee Regulation Bill, which applies to all categories of private schools. This has been challenged in the High Court by the linguistic Anglo-Indian minority schools and the case is currently being heard. La Martiniere College is part of the group of petitioners. Nevertheless, the College has adjusted its fee structure, in keeping with the provisions of the regulations. ESTATE After a period of 11 years, the dispute with the Lucknow Golf Club was amicably resolved with a fresh lease on mutually acceptable conditions being signed. With this, the Lucknow Martin Charities receives a considerably improved lease rent, the College students learn the game during school hours and the general state of the property is well maintained.