Faujdarhat Cadet College was the first cadet college to be established by Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan in erstwhile East Pakistan facing the Bay of Bengal. The government spent 40 lakh taka behind the project and it was opened on 28 April 1958 by Brigadier General Qurban Ali.[1] The classes started with 60 students in the seventh and eighth grade. Two sons of the then Chief Minister of East Pakistan, Ataur Rahman Khan were part of the inaugural cohort of the school. The school was known as East Pakistan Cadet College until 1965, when three new cadet colleges were established. The school boasts an area of 185 acres making it the largest high school in Bangladesh in terms of area. The school was designed by the most prominent artist of Bangladesh, Joynul Abedin.
The following former cadets of Faujdarhat Cadet College made the supreme sacrifice for the country in the Bangladesh War of Independence:
Major General (retd) Imamuzzaman, Veer Vikram, 10th batch
Ishraq Ahmed, 10th batch
Major (retd.) Hashmi Mustafa Kamal, 10th batch
Lt. Colonel (Retd.) Kazi Sajjad A Zaheer, Vir Prateek, 10th Batch
AFMA Harris, 11th batch
Major (retd.) Syed Munibur Rahman, 11th batch
Major (Retd.) Didar Atwar Hussain, 11th Batch
Major (retd.) Syed Mizanur Rahman, 11th batch
Dr. Shahriar Huda, Ph.D., 11th batch
Captain (Retd.) Ahsan Aziz Shelley, 12th Batch
Brigadier General (Retd.) Md. Abdur Rahim, 12th batch
M Ibrahim Adil Khan, 12th batch
Anees Quadri, 13th batch
Nazrul Kamal, 13th batch
AKM Shaukat Amin, 13th batch
Belal Uddin, 13th batch
Muhammad Abdur Rahim, 14th batch
Colonel (retd.) Mahmud Rahman Chowdhury, 15th batch
Lt. General Mollah Fazle Akbar, 15th batch
After independence in 1971, Tofail Ahmed attempted to introduce Awami League's student politics in the school. As he convened a meeting to discuss the prospects with students, senior students of the school boycotted it. The consequences that followed were the enactment of a new policy to convert the four existing cadet colleges to government residential colleges. Cadets from all colleges led by Faujdarhat started "Keep Cadet College Campaign".[2] They met with the then chairman of the cadet college governing body, Brigadier Ziaur Rahman who arranged a meeting for them with M. A. G. Osmani who was then the part of Sheikh Mujib's cabinet. Osmani talked with Prime Minister Sheikh Mujib and convinced him to repeal the new policy.[3]
From 2003, the cadet colleges in Bangladesh were converted to the English version of the National Curriculum. [citation needed]
Cadets in class room
Academic system
Faujdarhat Cadet College boards up to 300 boys for grades 7 to 12. Every year, 50 students are admitted to the college at grade 7 through a nationwide admission test composed of written (Bangla, English, Mathematics, General Knowledge), interviews and Medical Examinations.
Each class generally has fifty students, divided into two sections which are known as forms. The Junior School Certificate (JSC), Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations are administered under the direct control of the Board of Education of Chittagong Division. Cadets have shown a clear trend of securing top positions in the merit lists of board examinations every year.[citation needed]
Reunion programs
Being one of the older educational institutions in the country, and with a long list of illustrious alumni, the college maintains a regular cycle of Reunions every 4 years. Usually, the Old Faujians Association (alumni association of the college) organizes this event teamed up with the college authority.
Reunion 2014
The Reunion in 2014 was a notable event as the Armed Forces also had lent hand in organizing this extravagant 3-day event. The Alumni endowed the college with their support in building new infrastructure and residential facilities as well as carrying out the large event which was held from 25 December to 27 December.[5]
Diamond Jubilee Reunion (Reunion 2018)
Diamond Jubilee Gate of Faujdarhat Cadet College
On 18 January 2018, the Old Faujians Association (alumni association of the college) organized an event called Diamond Jubilee Reunion. Chief of Army Staff, General Abu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Haque inaugurated the event.[6] The program lasted for three days. It started on 18 January and ended on 20 January. On the second day of the program, the legendary singer of this subcontinent, Runa Laila performed on the occasion.[7]
Houses and inter-house competition
There are four buildings to host the cadets, each two-storied. Each of the houses is given a name, a symbol, and a color.
Rabindra House:
House Color: Yellow
House Symbol: Lion
House Motto: Strike and Strive
Former Babar House (South House)
Shahidullah House:
House Color: Red
House Symbol: Tiger
House Motto: We Shall Never Surrender
Former Akbar House (North House)
Fazlul Huq House:
House Color: Green
House Symbol: Panther
House Motto: Never Give In
Former Aurongzeb House(Ayub House)
Nazrul House:
House Color: Blue
House Symbol: Jaguar
House Motto: They Live Who Dare
Former Shahjahan House
Usually, each house has 75 students, 12 to 13 from each grade. Students are divided into houses during their initial intake year. Year-round extra and co-curricular competitions and activities are arranged in the broad categories of cultural, sports and gardening competitions, as well as in academics. Based on results from each competition, the houses earn 'points' and the highest scoring house in a year is announced a winner at the end of the year. This enhances the competition and holistic development of all the cadets.[citation needed]
Dining Hall
The college dining hall is named after its former principal Lt. Col. William Maurice Brown. The dining hall is modeled after the interior of a ship. The dining hall is supervised by a Faculty Member appointed as the Officer-in-Charge Dining Hall And the dining hall is co-operated by a Cadet of grade 12, appointed as The College Dining Hall Prefect. The college dining hall serves meal to the Cadets five times daily. Many ceremonies and farewell dinners are also held in this auspicious dining hall.[citation needed]
Library
The college library is named 'Birsrestho Abdur Rouf Library.' There are around 20,000 (twenty thousand) books in the library with collections from all around the world. The collection of this college library offers books on language, linguistics, mathematics, religion, literature, arts, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, history, computer science, philosophy, psychology, agriculture, statistics and political science. The Library is enriched with valuable reference materials available such as atlases, dictionaries, encyclopedias, annual reports and publications, survey reports, census reports, country reports, statistical yearbooks, military publications, and audio-visual materials.[citation needed]
Hospital
Faujdarhat Cadet College has a well-developed hospital. It is named after Birsrestho Nur Mohammad, who was killed in the Independence War of Bangladesh. The hospital is run by a specialized doctor ranked Major or Captain from the medical corps of the Bangladesh Army. Besides cadets, it provides treatment to employees of all classes along with their families. All kinds of basic and first aid treatments are available. It is well-equipped with pathological tools to diagnose basic diseases. In case of critical diseases and emergency situations, patients are sent to Combined Military Hospital, Chittagong.[citation needed]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
