St. Xavier's Collegiate School
| St. Xaviers's Collegiate School | |
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Motto: "Nihil Ultra" - "Nothing Beyond"
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| Location | |
| 30, Mother Teresa Sarani (formerly Park Street) Kolkata, India |
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| Information | |
| Type | Primary, Secondary |
| Established | 1860 |
| Headmaster | Father K.K. Devassy |
| Faculty | 83 |
| Gender | Male |
| Number of students | 2300 |
| Color(s) | Blue, white |
| Athletics | Football, cricket, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, track and field. |
| Information | +91 33 2280 5197 +91 33 2280 5198 |
| Amulni Association | ALSOC [1] |
| Website | [2] |
St. Xavier's Collegiate School was established in 1860 in Kolkata, India by missionaries of the Society of Jesus. The school is named after St. Francis Xavier. The School, whose alumni range from the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore to the former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, is widely regarded as one of India's most prestigious institutions, and has been described by the British writer Dennison Berwick as the "Harrow on the Hooghly".[1] In 2010, St Xavier's completed 150 years.
There are two school buildings separated by a street, one for the Primary School (grades K - 5) and the other for the Secondary School (grades 6 - 12). The secondary school building shares the campus with the St. Xavier's College building and one of the college hostels. The two institutions were established by the same Christian order, but have independent administrations.
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[edit] Religious affiliation
The school was established for the education of Catholic boys. However, it has long admitted students of any religious belief. In fact, most classes (with the exception of Kindergarten) are made up of primarily non-Christian students.
[edit] Academic affiliation
The school is affiliated to the "Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations" (which conducts the ICSE and ISC exams in grades, i.e. classes 10 and 12 respectively) as well as the "West Bengal Board of Secondary Education" (which holds the Madhyamik exams after grade 10). The students are given a choice of following either board up to standard 10 but must follow the Indian Council's board for classes 11 and 12. However due to a lower number of students opting for the West Bengal board, classes are held only for ICSE board, and the ISC board for the 11th and 12th standard.
[edit] School session
The school session is from April to March. Saturday is the normal weekly holiday (in addition to Sunday).
[edit] Uniform
The primary school uniform is dark grey shorts and white shirt while secondary school students wear white shorts/trousers with white shirt. A colored monogram on the shirt pocket has been introduced from April 2011. During winter months a dark blue pullover is permitted in both schools. Secondary school students also have the option of wearing a blue blazer.
A metal badge which shows the house name and colors is worn by the students on the top left side of the shirt. The house captains and vice-captains have badges that denote their designations along with the house colors.
Footwear is black leather shoes with laces. On days when students have Physical Training in school, they wear white canvas sport shoes, along with the vests of their respective house colours, Blue for Loyola, Green for Gonzaga,Yellow for Berchmans and Red for Britto.
The school tie is dark blue with white slanting stripes. It is not compulsory every day but required on important events.
Student Exchange Programs
St. Xavier's Collegiate School is the one of the very very few schools in India which host not one but two annual international student exchange programs.
The one with Belvedere College, Dublin, Ireland has been on since the last 17 years and is open to students of classes 9-10. The Xaverian boys go to Dublin in the summer, whereas, the Irish students visit St. Xavier's Collegiate School in November.
The second exchange programme is with China is open to the boys of 11-12 (those who have not been a part of the Dublin exchange program), St. Xavier's Collegiate School is the only School in India to have a student exchange program with China at this level. The first successful exchange took place in May 2011 when the Xaverians visited Shida Fuzhong High School, Kunmin, and the Chinese students visited St.Xavier's in November 2011. The second batch of Xaverians are currently under training.
[edit] Curriculum
Students may choose to follow either the ICSE or Madhyamik curriculum till class 10. In classes 11 and 12, however, they must follow the ISC curriculum, but may choose to study either Science (Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Biology/Computer Science) or Commerce (Commerce, Accounts, Economics and Maths). An Indian Language is optional in classes 11 and 12.
[edit] House system
The secondary school students are grouped into four houses named after Jesuit saints. The primary section used to have a house system, but it was discontinued for a couple of years, but it has been reinstated from the Academic year 2011-12. The houses are:
- Britto House (red), named after Saint John de Brito
- Gonzaga House (green), named after Saint Aloysius Gonzaga
- Loyola House (blue), named after Saint Ignatius Loyola
- Berchmans House (yellow), named after Saint John Berchmans
Each house has a House Captain and a House Vice Captain - generally students of grades 12 and 11 respectively. Reporting to them are the House Representatives - one for each of the other grades. These executive members are selected by voting amongst the students belonging to each house.
The houses compete against each other in sports and academics. On the annual sports day, the winning house is declared on the basis of points earned by its students throughout the year.
[edit] Other clubs
The school also has many active clubs, which are aimed at building leadership qualities in the students at the school level. The clubs comprise
- Computer Club
- The Nature Club
- Sansriti (The Bengali Cultural Club)
- LTS (Leadership Training Service)
- CLC (Christian Life Community)
- The Debate Club
- Film Club
The Debate Club has several notable victories to its credit. Shourya Dasgupta, a student of Class X was adjudged the Best Speaker of the Frank Anthony Memorial Debate National Finals of 2011( organised by the ICSE council). Dasgupta has previously won the regional rounds of this competition, in addition to winning the St.Lawrence Old Boy's Association Debate.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Jyoti Basu, former Chief Minister of West Bengal
- Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Adviser, Govt. of India
- Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose, scientist
- Aditya Vikram Birla, industrialist
- R. D. Burman, film score composer [2]
- Sugato Chakravarty, financial economist, Professor of Consumer Economics, Purdue University
- Tarun Das, President- Aspen Institute India and Former Chief Mentor, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
- Barun De, historian; Chairman, West Bengal Heritage Commission, Calcutta
- Utpal Dutt, actor
- Sourav Ganguly, former Indian Cricket Captain
- Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, co-founders of Lexulous [3][4]
- Sanjiv Goenka, industrialist [5]
- Dipankar P Gupta, former Solicitor General of India
- Raj Kapoor, Bollywood Actor
- Dilshad Khan, Hindustani classical singer
- P. Lal, litterateur [6]
- Norman Pritchard, Indian athlete of British descent, first Indian to win an Olympic Medal.
- Derek O' Brien, Barry O'Brien and Neil O' Brien, Quizmasters [7]
- Siddhartha Shankar Ray, barrister, former Chief Minister of West Bengal and former Indian Ambassador to the US
- General Shankar Roychoudhury, Former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army
- Sanjeev Sanyal, economist and environmentalist.
- Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, former Prime Minister of Pakistan
- Rabindranath Tagore, writer and Nobel laureate, 1875 [8]
- Satyendranath Tagore, first Indian to join the Indian Civil Service, elder brother of Rabindranath [8]
- Shashi Tharoor, former UN undersecretary and former External Affairs minister
[edit] References
- ^ Dennison Berwick, A walk along the Ganges (1986), p.43 http://books.google.co.in/books?id=4DtAPQm3IeoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=walk+along+the+Ganges+By+Dennison+Berwick&source=bl&ots=X5L2wEaatN&sig=uDDqg7pXzO6j2I4nY5R5gHk-1jE&hl=en&ei=bflpS63ELoGI6gOB65CyBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false
- ^ R.D. Burman, who had been Dilshad Khan's classmate in St Xavier's School, Kolkata. Parveen Sultana Interview -entertainment.oneindia.in, October 12, 2007.
- ^ http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090215/jsp/7days/story_10536896.jsp
- ^ http://www.livemint.com/articles/2009/06/05220120/The-Kolkata-coders.html
- ^ http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090122/jsp/calcutta/story_104264521.jsp
- ^ Rosalie Murphy, Contemporary poets of the English language (St. James Press, 1970) p. 622
- ^ Quizmaster Derek O' Brien, an ex-student of St Xavier's School... The Times of India, January 25, 2005.
- ^ a b ..the bard enrolled in St Xaviers's School in 1875...along with his older brother Somendranath and his nephew Satyaprasad The Times of India, May 8, 2009.
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