Rajshahi Collegiate
School:
(Bengali:
রাজশাহী কলেজিয়েট স্কুল) is a school and
college in Boalia Thana in the center of Rajshahi, a city in northern Bangladesh.
Established in 1828, it is the first modern school
of Bengal and one of the oldest
schools of the Indian Subcontinent.
[1]
History
During the British Raj, the school was established as the
Beauleah
School, an English
medium institution.
After British colonial rule started in Bengal in
1757, the British started founding educational centers to create a body of
officers from the native people. This led to establishment of a number of
educational institutions throughout India,
and Bengal in particular. A number of institutions were
established in Kolkata and the western part of Bengal, but the first school in
East Bengal was Rajshahi Collegiate School, followed by Jessore Zilla School, Dhaka
Collegiate School, Chittagong Collegiate School and Rangpur Zilla School.
[2] Bengali poet and music composer Rajanikanta Sen studied
in the school.
New College Building
for Higher Secondary Students
 |
| The Main Gate of School |
Rajshahi Collegiate
School is the first and oldest
school in the country and has a long tradition and reputation of spreading the
light of education. Throughout the country the school has produced thousands of
qualified citizens to serve the nation. The school has been fostering its
tradition for more than 182 years. Lord William Benting from his personal
effort and enthusiasm established this school in 1828 and named it “Bawlia
English School”
to spread English language all over the country. The activities of the school
began on the verenda of a dochala room made of tile near Borokuthi on the bank
of the river Padma. At the beginning it was a private and full free school. At
that time there was no allocation of government fund for the school. So, the school
continued with the assistance and cooperation from the European officers,
lawyers, businessmen, men of other professionals, the rajas and zamidars of
Puthia, Dubalhati, Dighapatiya, Bolihar and others living in Rajshahi. But the
school received William Adam’s recommendation in 1835 after a visit to the
school. The school was nationalized on 20
June 1836 after the recommendation had been sent to the government.
The government took up the Boalia School
as Rajshahi Zilla
School and appointed Sharda
Parashad Bosu as the Head Master. In that year the total students of the school
were 83. Among them 78 were Hindus, 2 Muslims and 3 Christians. In 1836 the
student increased to 188. The standard of education was very high.
In its 150th celebration (1986) Sekander Abu Jafore wrote Rajshahi
Collegiate School
is one of the three government and Higher Secondary Schools in the then
undivided Bengal during British reign in 1836. The
another two were. Hare School
of Kolkata and Murshidabad English
High School in 1850 TK 1 was fixed
as free for each student of higher classes. As a result, the number of students
decreased. In 1844 and 1845, 1 student in both year and in 1847, 3 students got
junior scholarship. In 1849 a spacious brick-built building was built in 1857
the total students rose to 146.
Academic Building:
 |
| Academic Building |
At that time there was no education board. Probeshika (now SSS) Examination
held under the University of Calcutta
in undivided Bengal. The School achieved approval of the
University of Calcutta
in 1958. Student fees increased TK 2 at this time. The total Number of Students
was 215 that year. A time came when the newly built building broke down and
fell into the river Padma. As a result, the activities of the school were going
on in a rented house. A few rooms were built in 1862 at the present place of
the school with financial assistance of the then king of Puthia Jogendrow
Narayan Roy.
In 1873 two rooms of College were added to Boalia government English school.
Most probably, since then, the school was named Rajshahi
Collegiate School.
In 1874 two additional buildings of the school were built with the financial
assistance of the great queen Shorot Sundory Devi of Puthia. In 1875, 19
students out of 38 passed Entrance Examination. At that time it was a
mentionable success. In 1884 two classes of the college were separated and
added to present Rajshahi Government
College but the school went on
under College administration.
In 1907 Fuller Hostel was built with the financial assistance of the then
governor of Bengal Mr. Fuller and with the active cooperation of politician Mr.
Khan Bahadur Emaduddin. In that very year a separate Hindu Hostel was built for
the school. 1912 the then governor the Bengal came to
visit the school for the first time. The total students were 500 then. In 1926
then Hindu hostel was placed to raja Promothnath (P.N) hostel. In 1930 the
students of the school decreased to 300 for Anti British political movement. In
school history the mentionable additions this year were :
1.Formation of Boy Scout
2.Organisation of junior Red cross
3.Publication of Annual School Magazine.
Colligeate School,
Rajshahi
Students of this school showed sign of credit in sports and they won Jackson
Shield in 1936 and Brarbon Shield in 1940. A library for the school was
established in 1940 A science gallery was also built in the same year (In 1992
it was declared ABANDONED and broken down). From 1954 to 1964 the school was
under Rajshahi Teachers
Training College
and it worked as a laboratory school. In 1969 the school again came under
Deputy Director, Secondary and Higher Education. In 1959 the school was
promoted to a pilot secondary school under Board Foundation among other schools
of the province. In 1962 a two-storied science building and a workshop were
built at the cost of 1 lac 10 thousand taka. In 1963 the boundary wall of the
school separated both Rajshahi Collegiate
School and Rajshahi
College.
Morning Shift Started for the first time in 1964. Until 1990 Morning shift
was from class three to six and Day
shift was from class seven to ten. In
May 1991 by a government order “Double Shift” was fully introduced. At present
Morning Shift runs from class 3 to 10
and Day shift also runs from 3 to 10 having 2 sections in each class and each
shift.
The school encompasses 0.9725 acres of land. Any source or information
regarding how the land was obtained is not found out. An unknown amount of land
was acquired by the government from the total land for road extension.
For the increasing demand of population several multi-storied buildings have
been constructed in the school campus to accommodate more students.
Rashid Ahmed 33rd Headmaster Rajshahi Collegiate School
In 1936 the first anniversary of the school was celebrated in a befitting
manner at the cost of more than 1 lac taka at that time by the efforts of
students, teachers and local people.
In January 1986 (24 to 26 January) the 150th anniversary of the school was
celebrated through much encouragement and enthusiasm. An ex-student Abdul Matin
(batch-1946) the then chairman of Fedarel Insurance Company, Bangladesh gave
away 82 thousand taka (firstly 54 thousand then 28 thousand) to the school to
introduce Abdul Matin talency scholarship in this 150th anniversary.
In 2008 Eleven Class was opened in science and commerce group. In 2011 the
students first appeared at the HSC examination. Total examinee was 99. Among
them from science group the number of appeared students was 74 and 26 students
obtained GPA 5.00 including 7 golden A+. Passing rate from science group was
97.3%. From commerce group the number of appeared student was 25 and passing
rate 92%
