St. Paul's School | |
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Location | |
, India | |
Coordinates | 27°01′57″N88°15′48″E / 27.0325065°N 88.2633448°E |
Information | |
Type | Private boarding school |
Motto |
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Religious affiliation(s) | Church of North India |
Established | 1864 |
Founder | Archdeacon Corrie |
School board | Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (year 10) Indian School Certificate (year 12) |
Rector | Peter Lepcha |
Gender | Boys |
Age | 6to 18 |
Enrollment | 600 |
Houses | 12 |
Colour(s) |
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Publication |
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School fees | Approx. 4–5 lakh per annum |
Affiliation | Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations |
Former pupils | Old Paulites |
Website | stpaulsdarjeeling |
St. Paul's School is a private boarding school for boys in the town of Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. It is known as "Eton of the East" [1] because it is thought to follow the similar cultural and traditional values of Eton College. St. Paul's is one of the oldest public schools in Asia. Entrance tests for admission are held every September. The school follows the ICSE curriculum until class 10 and the ISC curriculum for classes 11 and 12.
St. Paul's School was founded on 1 May 1823 in Calcutta by Daniel Corrie [2] at the instigation of John William Ricketts, a local Anglo-Indian leader. The first principal of the institution was Dr George Smith. Originally located at 11 Park Street, between the Archbishop House and the then Sans Souci Theatre, in 1830 it moved to Jawaharlal Nehru Road to the area now occupied by the Indian Museum. [3] In 1847, it was renamed St. Paul's School by Bishop Wilson, who had associated the school with St. Paul's Cathedral in Calcutta.It moved to its present Jalapahar estate in Darjeeling in 1864 with 31 boarders and a few day scholars. The estate was purchased from Brian Hodgson for Rs.45,000. At that time, at approximately 7,600 feet above sea level, it was the highest school in the world. [4] [5]
A number of its students fought in World War I and World War II. [6]
The school's original purpose was "to supply a good education at a moderate cost to the sons of Europeans and East Indians". [5] [7] After Indian Independence in 1947 it became a school for wealthy Indians and attracted wealthy students from other Asian countries. [5] : 66
Bishop Foss Westcott, metropolitan of Bengal, Burma and Ceylon, played an important role in the growth of the school. The Maharajah of Burdwan also made important donations. [4] Over the years a number of estates were purchased and merged with the existing school estate. The Mount Vernon Estate, known as Dawkins, was purchased in the early 1900s, and the Terpsithea Estate in 1955.
L.J. Goddard was the longest serving and perhaps the most important rector, leading the school between 1934 and 1964, including the transition from British-ruled to independent India. His successors were David Gibbs (1964–72) and Hari Dang (1977-84). Dang was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976 for his services in education. [8] Goddard and Gibbs received the OBE for their work at St. Paul's. [9]
The school is divided into Primary, Junior, and Senior wings. The three wings are run independently with the Primary Wing having its own campus and a slight difference in uniform. The Senior and Junior Wings share many facilities. [10]
The Rector is the head of the school, assisted by the Senior Master, Head Junior Wing, Head Primary Wing and House masters.
The school currently presents itself as an residential school for boys, predominantly Indian with an "international, multiracial and cross-regional cosmopolitan character", [11] having students from many countries including the US, [12] the UK, [12] France, [13] Thailand, [14] Bhutan, [12] Japan, [15] Bangladesh, [12] Nepal, [12] United Arab Emirates, [15] and Hong Kong. [15]
Current students are referred to as Paulites and the alumni as Old Paulites. The school lays a great emphasis on uniforms. On off-campus trips students must dress in prescribed suits and carry umbrellas.
The school motto is derived from the passage 'Cedamus Phoebo, et moniti meliora sequamur' in the Latin epic the Aeneid by Virgil. 'Moniti meliora sequamur' means "Having Been Advised, We Follow Better (Higher) Things".
The student government is headed by a school captain, assisted by House Captains and Prefects, drawn from the sixth form. The Junior and Primary Wings have their own system of monitors. The sixth form is privileged and enjoys an advantage over the rest. The chapel holds a central place in the life of the school where it meets as a community. There are clubs which develop artistic and technical skills. Each house presents a concert from time to time, apart from the major school production in October.
The extracurricular activities in school are dramatics, elocution, debate, piano, guitar, drums, violin, marching band and sitar classes. There are various hobby clubs and societies. These are all run by the boys under the supervision of masters. In the senior wing, the hobbies are art and craft, Batik, Indian Western music, model-making, photography, wood and lathe work, cybernetics, textile design, and cooking. The school sends candidates for the music and speech examinations held by the Trinity College London and Royal Academy of Music. The boys are also sent on educational tours to NASA and other historical sites in India and neighbouring countries.
The sport curriculum is dominated by football, cricket, athletics, volleyball, basketball, squash, table tennis, tennis, Eton fives, gymnastics, rocking climbing.
There has been a long-standing rivalry between St. Paul's and St.Joseph's School, North Point in sports and other activities that the two compete in.
St Paul's has been ranked first among boarding schools in West Bengal and fourth in India according to the 2019 Education-World rankings. [16] The school was featured in Forbes India magazine in the article "The great Indian Schools - 2018". [17] It was named among the top seven boarding schools in India in 2020 by India Today. [18]
The school has been featured in Hindi and Bengali language films including Hamraaz (1967) by B. R. Chopra, Mera Naam Joker (1970) by Raj Kapoor, Seemabaddha (1971) by Satyajit Ray, Do Anjaane (1976) by Dulal Guha, Bada Din (2000), Main Hoon Na (2004) by Farah Khan, Chowrasta Crossroads of Love (2009) by Anjan Dutta, Barfi! (2012), Jagga Jasoos (2017) by Anurag Basu, Raja the Great (2017) by Anil Ravipudi, [60] Petta (2019) by Karthik Subbaraj, [61] and Mithya (2022) [62] by Rohan Sippy.
Hollywood actress Vivien Leigh was born on the school campus in November 1913. [63]
Darjeeling is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of 2,045 metres (6,709 ft). To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, to the east the Kingdom of Bhutan, to the north the Indian state of Sikkim, and farther north the Tibet Autonomous Region region of China. Bangladesh lies to the south and southeast, and most of the state of West Bengal lies to the south and southwest, connected to the Darjeeling region by a narrow tract. Kangchenjunga, the world's third-highest mountain, rises to the north and is prominently visible on clear days.
Tenzing Norgay, born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. He was one of the first two people known to certainly reach the summit of Mount Everest, which he accomplished with Edmund Hillary on 29 May 1953. Time named Norgay one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Palden Thondup Namgyal was the 12th and last Chogyal (king) of the Kingdom of Sikkim.
Hope Cooke was the Gyalmo of the 12th Chogyal (King) of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal. Their wedding took place in March 1963. She was termed Her Highness The Crown Princess of Sikkim and became the Gyalmo of Sikkim at Palden Thondup Namgyal's coronation in 1965.
The Bhutia are a community of Sikkimese people living in the state of Sikkim in northeastern India, who speak Drenjongke or Sikkimese, a Tibetic language fairly mutually intelligible with standard Tibetan. In 2001, the Bhutia numbered around 60,300. Bhutia here refers to people of Tibetic ancestry.
Bagdogra is a settlement in the Naxalbari CD block in the Siliguri subdivision of the Darjeeling district, in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the Greater Siliguri Metropolitan Area. The Bagdogra is well connected by air to six major cities of India – Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai through the Bagdogra Airport. The Bagdogra railway station is also well connected.
Kurseong is a town and a municipality in Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Kurseong subdivision.
St. Joseph's School, Darjeeling, popularly called North Point or N.P., is a private Catholic primary and secondary school for boys located in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. Originally called St. Joseph's College, the school was founded in the year 1888 and is owned and managed by the Jesuits.
Farooq Sobhan is a former Bangladeshi diplomat. He served in various capacities in the Bangladesh government and foreign service. He was Bangladesh's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China (1987–1990) and High Commissioner to Malaysia (1984–1987) and the Republic of India (1992–1995) as well as the Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh (1995–1997).
Mahendra P. Lama is an Indian professor and a development economist who was the pro-vice chancellor of IGNOU and the founding vice chancellor of Sikkim University in India. At the age of 45, he became the youngest vice chancellor of a National Central University in India. He is presently a senior Professor in the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Chief Economic Adviser in the Government of Sikkim and Member of the Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India Relations appointed by the Prime Ministers of India and Nepal.
Tattwa Prakash Satapathy, better known by his stage name Papu Pom Pom, is an Indian film, television, Music Director, standup comedian and an Odisha Legislative Assembly candidate. Satapathy has acted in over 50 Odia movies. He was the main lead in the well-known Odia television comedy serial 'Excuse Me: Jaha Kahibi Sata Kahibi, Faltu Katha, Eita Bayata. He acted more than 500 characters in Television.
Karma Topden was an Indian Sikkimese politician.
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Nirmal Chandra Sinha (1911–1997) was an Indian tibetologist, author, the founder director of Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology (SIRT), presently known as the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Deorali near Gangtok. He was known for his contributions to Buddhism and the documentation of the history of Tibet and other states of Central Asia. He was honoured by the Government of India in 1971 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Mani Kumar Chetri is an Indian cardiologist, a former director of West Bengal State Health Services and a former director of the IPGMER and SSKM Hospital, Kolkata. He is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences and a recipient of the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri from the Government of India in 1974.
Sonam Gyatso (1923–1968) was an Indian mountaineer. He was the second Indian man, the seventeenth man in world and first person from Sikkim to summit Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world. He was one of the nine summiters of the first successful Indian Everest Expeditions that climbed Mount Everest in May 1965 led by Captain M S Kohli. The first time that the oldest man at the time, Sonam Gyatso at age 42, and the youngest man Sonam Wangyal at age 23, climbed Everest together on 22 May 1965. He became the oldest person to scale the peak in 1965 and when he spent 50 minutes at the peak, he set a world record for spending the longest time at the highest point on Earth. The Government of India awarded him the third highest honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1965, for his contributions to the sport of mountaineering.
The Tenzing Norgay Central Bus Terminus is one of the largest and most important bus terminals in North Bengal. It is located on Hill Cart Road, Siliguri, District Darjeeling, adjacent to the Siliguri Junction railway station, about 6 kilometers from New Jalpaiguri Railway Station. Both state owned North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) buses and private buses ply from here. The terminus is named after Nepali mountaineer Tenzing Norgay who was a resident of the Darjeeling District.
Lalat Indu Parija was an Indian cricket player and civil servant. He played 20 first-class matches for Odisha in Ranji Trophy. He was also the former chief secretary of Odisha for two terms in 1983 and later in 1986. His autobiography "Fate Takes a Hand" highlighting his 40 years of work as an administrator was published in March 2019. Parija was the son of scientist Prana Krushna Parija.
Kaajee Singh is an Indian percussionist. In 2022, he is awarded Padma Shri by the Indian government for his contribution in music in Madal.
Education: St. Paul's School, Darjeeling, India