The genesis of Patshala khobor started during the Winter of 2004 as an Eagle Scout final project. Shumon Dhar, a Patshala student proposed this project to then President of Lipilekha, Siddhartha Basu. Originally the project consisted of organizing and printing a bilingual newspaper written in Bengali and English to be published biannually — later it was decided to be published annually during Saraswati Puja (honoring the Goddess of Learning).
This publication is designed to be entirely put together by the youth of the organization. The newspaper benefits the students in several ways: 1. Gaining skills in reading and writing in their mother tongue, Bengali. 2. Students gain a greater appreciation for their culture and community. 3. IInterpersonal and Leadership skills from putting together a newspaper with a group 4. Organizational skills 5. Communication skills 6. Teamwork 7. Time management and much more.
The first editorial team consisted of Shumon Dhar, Neil Basu, Saptarshi Mukherjee Nabanita Basu, Jhumur Banik, Sunanda Nath, Enakshi Dasgupta, Tara Basu, Soumya Sanyal, Ranjini Bose and Arpon Ray. Contributing staff consisted of Peony Banik, Debomita Basu, Indrani Basu, Neha Bhattacharya, Romit Bhattacharya, Rhia Dasgupta, Monica Dhar, Robert Gupta and Apratim Purakayastha. Many of these original participants went on to becoming the Editor-In-Chief for subsequent issues. The goal of the paper is also to train the junior members of the team to be the next leaders so this project moves forward by design.
Proud to say now in its 19th year, Pathshala Khobor is still going strong. The hard work and dedication of all the budding journalists are commendable. Patshala Khobor is a huge part of the Lipilekha Bangla School. It has 100% participation from all the students. During the last several years, grandparents have also been a huge contributor, thus coming full circle. Thanks to all the parents and members at large for their support. Please check out some the issues that have been uploaded. Perhaps you will find the original papers with each of the Editor-in-Chief or their parents’ attic.
Happy reading!!!