St. Paul's School, Darjeeling


St. Paul's School is an independent boarding school for boys in the town of Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. It is often referred as Eton of the East because it is thought to follow the similar cultural and traditional values of Eton College. St. Paul’s is one of the oldest Public School in Asia. Entrance tests for admission are held every September. The school follows the ICSE curriculum till class 10 and the ISC curriculum for higher secondary. St Paul’s has been ranked 1st among boarding schools in West Bengal and 4th in India according to the 2019 Education-World rankings. The school was featured in Forbes India magazine in the article "The great Indian Schools - 2018" the edition was bought by Great Place to study

History

St. Paul's School was founded on 1 May 1823 in Calcutta by Archdeacon Corrie 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,. It moved to its present Jalapahar estate in Darjeeling in 1864 with 31 boarders and a few day scholars. The estate was purchased from Mr 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. In 1847, the school was renamed St. Paul's School by Bishop Wilson, who had associated the school with St. Paul's Cathedral in Calcutta. A number of its students fought in World War I and World War II. The school's original purpose was "to supply a good education at a moderate cost to the sons of Europeans and East Indians". After Indian Independence in 1947 it became a school for wealthy Indians and attracted wealthy students from other Asian countries.
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. 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 at the beginning of the 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 and Hari Dang. Dang was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976 for his services in education. Goddard and Gibbs received the OBE for their work at St. Paul's.

School system

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.
The Rector is the head of the school, assisted by the Senior Master, Head Junior Wing, Head Primary Wing and House masters.

Culture

The school currently presents itself as an residential school for boys, predominantly Indian with an "international, multiracial and cross-regional cosmopolitan character", having students from many countries including the US, the UK, France, Thailand, Bhutan, Japan, Bangladesh, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong.
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 Aeneid by Virgil. 'Moniti meliora sequamur' means: "Having Been Advised, We Follow Better 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 extra curricular 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, 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 to educational tour 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, boxing, Gymnastics, rocking climbing and hockey.

Gallery

Notable alumni

The school has been featured in Hindi and Bengali language films. Hamraaz by B. R. Chopra, Mera Naam Joker by Raj Kapoor, Seemabaddha by Satyajit Ray, Do Anjaane by Dulal Guha, Bada Din, Main Hoon Na by Farah Khan,Chowrasta Crossroads of Love by Anjan Dutta, Barfi and Jagga Jasoos by Anurag Basu, Raja the Great by Anil Ravipudi and Petta by Karthik Subbaraj are among them.
Vivien Leigh may have been born in the school campus at a place now known as Dawkins, beside the old basketball court.