The NELC School for the Blind was founded on January 10, 1965 by the Norwegian missionary couple, Mrs. and Mr. Hodne. They came to Cooch Behar as missionaries and were involved in various social activities. On their first arrival in India , Mrs Brit Hodne was very shocked to see blind children begging in the Cooch Behar street and the train station . She looked for schools for the blind near Cooch Behar so that she could take these children to school, but she could not find any such school in all of North Bengal and Assam during those years. After that, she herself got the urge to start a school for the blind in Cooch Behar. This marked the start of the school for the blind.
The institution welcomes visually handicapped students of all community, irrespective of race, caste and creed. The students are provided free boarding and lodging with educational and medical facilities.
The main objective of this school is to help blind children to develop their individual, potential, physical, mental and spiritual growth and thus help them to find their rightful place in the society.
The institution provides academic education up to the junior high school level. (Class VIII), besides education the students are encouraged to learn music, craft, computer course and other handicrafts.
"I love to play marbles with my friends in the evening. I am studying in standard III now. I try my best to score good result. I always want to be a good student and go for higher education. "
"I love to play and study and gather new knowledge from my friends and teachers. I love singing and dancing. I love to listen stories. For any difficulty in my personal life and study my teachers are there to help me and guide me."
"I love listening to music. I love to play with dolls and with kitchen kits. I am studying in standard VI now. I try my best to score good result. I always want to be a good student and go for higher education. If I get chance I would like to go for a Government service. For that I really have to study well. I like to stay at the hostel of the school."
"I love to study and gather new knowledge from my friends and teachers. I love exploring new things. I love singing and listening music also. It really makes me happy and forgetting all the trouble and hardship of life. I also love to do stitching work specially kneading. With this creativity I like to make new things and decorate my surroundings."
"My home is in a small village. I like to study and explore new things. I got my new books so love to read them and expand my knowledge. I love to play and spend time with my friends and family. They are always there to cheer me up when I am low or in any difficulty. I love the way my teachers guide me with my study. Seeing them I also want to be a teacher and deliver my knowledge to others in need. "
"I love to play and spend time with my friends and family. They are always there to cheer me up when I am low or in any difficulty. I read in class VI. I like to study and explore new things. "
"I love to sing and do this on a daily base. My dream is to become a teacher so that I can help other blind children learn as well."
"I am interested in singing songs and like to listen to adventure stores. I read story books in my free time. I would like to be social worker and help the elderly people in the society. "