Higher education in West Bengal

The Indian state of West Bengal is the site of India's first modern university.

Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal has played a pioneering role in the development of the modern education system in India.

Sir William Jones (philologist) established the Asiatic Society in 1784 for promoting oriental studies.

People like Ram Mohan Roy, David Hare, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Ashutosh Mukherjee and William Carey played a leading role in the setting up of modern schools and colleges in the city.

Today it is amongst the largest multidisciplinary universities of India and offers some of the widest number of academic disciplines for study.

John Bethune established a school for Indian girls in 1850 at a time when women's education was frowned upon in the society.

Kadambini went on to become the first female physician trained in the Western system of medicine in South Asia.

In 1960 the Regional Engineering college (presently National Institute of Technology) at Durgapur was set up.

Types with specialist functions include research institutes and universities with national recognition for their field of education.

One is centrally-funded and -administered by the Indian Ministry of Labour and Employment through the autonomous Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).

AYUSH institutions provide training in alternative medicine and traditional health care systems of South Asia (ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa, and homeopathy).

Government general degree colleges (GGDC) are public educational institutes set up and administered under the University Grants Commission (UGC).

State or union governments manage them, but the colleges are affiliated to a university for their course structure.