The Hindu School, one of the top state-run institutes, was set up in 1817 by Scottish philanthropist David Hare, scholar Radhakanta Deb and notable educationist Baidyanath Mukherjee, among others.

The 202-year-old Hindu School in Kolkata has got the state government’s approval to start an English-medium section at the primary level. In a letter to the headmaster of the school on Friday, Commissioner of School Education Soumitra Mohan said the approval has been given to start English-medium section from the next academic year, alongside the Bengali-medium wing.

The Hindu School, one of the top state-run institutes, was set up in 1817 by Scottish philanthropist David Hare, scholar Radhakanta Deb and notable educationist Baidyanath Mukherjee, among others. The letter said, the new section can be started with existing resources but if the school authorities feel about any additional requirement, the details of that should be communicated to the school education department in a week’s time.

Education minister Partha Chatterjee earlier said that state-run schools will offer education in English from the next sessions to enable students acquire proficiency in that language and impart quality education to people who cannot afford private English-medium schools.