History

The Bengal National College was established on 15th August. 1906, for imparting literary, scientific and technical knowledge. The Bengal Technical Institute founded by a different body (The Society for the Promotion of Technical Education) was merged with NCEB in May 1910. Soon afterwards the National Council of Education constituted two colleges, which were virtually the faculties of “Humanities and Pure Science” and of “Applied Science and Technology”. From the year of amalgamation with the Bengal Technical Institute, the Council, with a view to enhancing the efficiency of the teaching methods of faculties sent seven scholars to the United States for higher training. Sjs. Benoy Kumar Sarkar and Radha Kumud Mukherjee raised a donation of Rs.30,000 for this purpose. Seven scholars were sent to Harvard, Yale and Michigan University for this purpose. Besides in 1911 Sj. T. Palit gave grant to two meritorious students to study abroad. They were Hiron Kumar Gupta and Jnanendra Chandra Das Gupta, who got admission in Imperial College of Science and Technology in London in Geology and Royal University of Berlin in Chemical Technology respectively.

In the mean time 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 number of students steadily declined and the college had to be closed down in 1917 when there was no student in the college. The sole exception was the Technical Institute, which thrived and demands for enrolment far outstripped the capacity. During this difficult time, Committee had recommended the establishment of cultural college but later they decided to extend the Extension Lecture Scheme for organizing lecture, establish a center for study and research work and publication of suitable books. In the later period, the extension of the lectures and the research works carried out by the incumbents of the Probodh Chandra Basu Mallik Chair of Indian Philosophy and the Hem Chandra Basu Mallik Chair of Indian History under the Subodh Chandra Mallik Endowment constituted the other activities of Council. During this period of time many eminent scholars became the incumbents of these prestigious chair like Aurobindo Ghosh, Radha Kumud Mukherjee, Provat Kumar Mukherjee, Kali Prasanna Das Gupta, Dr. Probodh Chandra Bagchi and others contributed their literary excellence in areas like Culture, history, Hindu Socialism, Rural Bengal, Vedanta & Hindu Philosophy.

But by the end of the thirties, war clouds hovered over the western world, and a little later it was evident that India also would 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.

The history of National Council would be incomplete without the reference of its alumni who had played a distinctive role in the affairs of the institution and sends representatives to different bodies. During the last 15 years when the original founders and makers of National council either retired or died, the alumni of the Council took the responsibilities on their shoulder. 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 Ch Bhattacharya as president and Hiralal Roy and Upendra Chandra Ghosh as Secretaries.