Tyndale Biscoe School
| Tyndale Biscoe School (TBS) | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Tyndale Biscoe School Motto | |
| Location | |
 | |
Srinagar | |
| Coordinates | 34°04′17″N 74°48′44″E / 34.071402°N 74.812234°E |
| Information | |
| Former name | Hadow Public School |
| Type | Private School |
| Motto | In All Things Be Men |
| Established | 1880 |
| Founder | Rev. James Hinton Knowles |
| Sister school |
|
| Educational authority | Tyndale Biscoe and Mallinson Society, Srinagar, Diocese of Amritsar, Church of North India (CNI) |
| Principal | Mabel Youzon |
| Gender | Boys |
| Language | English |
| Campus | Urban |
| Area | 84 kanals (including the Mallinson Girls School) |
| Houses |
|
| Sports | Football, basketball, cricket, hockey, water polo, swimming, volleyball, badminton, etc. |
| Nickname | Biscoits, Biscoe Boys |
| Affiliation | Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education |
| Website | tbmes |
Tyndale Biscoe School is a school in the Sheikh Bagh neighbourhood, in the Lal Chowk area of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.[1] The school was founded in 1880 CE and is one of the oldest schools in Jammu and Kashmir, the oldest being S.P school which was founded in 1874 CE.[2] The school was started by Christian missionaries and was named after Canon Cecil Tyndale-Biscoe (1863–1949).[3] It still has affiliations with the Church Mission Society. The first principal was Reverend J. H. Knowles.
Departments
[edit]The school has five departments.
| Department | Classes |
|---|---|
| Lower Primary Department | Nursery to II |
| Junior Department | III to V |
| Middle Department | VI to VIII |
| Senior Department | IX and X |
| Higher Secondary (Science Stream only) | XI and XII |
Activities
[edit]Tyndale Biscoe School is known for its extra-curricular activities, especially swimming, skiing, mountain climbing, camping and regatta.[4] School placed emphasis on physical activities including mountaineering, trekking, boating, football, cricket, and swimming stimulating sense of courage, masculinity and physical fitness.[5]
When football was introduced in the Valley by Missionary School, there was resistance initially. Students felt the cow leather was holy and touching the ball, made out of it, was blasphemous. Instead they played football with a wooden clog (known as Khraav in Kashmiri) in their feet. Similarly, when boating was introduced in Mission School students did not like boating because, in Kashmiri society, boatmen weren't consider respectable members of the society. But later it was adopted and the Mission School boys became efficient paddlers and rowers.[6]
History
[edit]Rev. J.H. Knowles, in 1880, laid the foundation of the C.M.S. (Church Mission Society) School on the hospital premises (Modern Chest Disease Hospital, Drugjan) in Srinagar. The school was started with 5 pupils. In 1883, the number of boys in the school increased to 30.[7]
In 1890, the Government permitted the C.M.S. to shift the school to downtown, and it was moved from the hospital premises (Drugjan) to a large house and compound on the river bank in the middle of the city at Fateh Kadal.[8] As a result of this, the number of students increased to about 200 in 1890. Canon C.E. Tyndale-Biscoe joined the school in 1891, there were 250 pupils on the school roll. The primary school grew into a middle school and eventually into a high school. The high school was designated the Hadow Memorial School after the name of its honorary treasurer for 40 years. Eventually, five other mission schools were set up, one each in different parts of the capital city and one in Anantnag.[7]
Controversies and Legal Challenges
[edit]Allegations of Financial Mismanagement and Embezzlement
[edit]Since 2019, the management of the Tyndale Biscoe and Mallinson Society (TBMES) has been under intense scrutiny by the Crime Branch of the Jammu and Kashmir Police. Investigations were initiated following allegations of criminal breach of trust, diversion of school funds for personal property acquisition, and the illegal occupation of state land. Reports indicate that school funds were allegedly used to purchase assets in the personal names of the management, including estates in Humhama and Tangmarg.[9]
Challenges to Administrative Appointments
[edit]The legality of several high-ranking administrative posts within the society has been challenged in the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. In the case of Bilal Ahmad Sheikh v. Tyndale Biscoe & Mallinson Society, petitioners alleged that the positions of "Director" and "Administrator"—currently held by members of the Kaul family—are "bogus" and do not exist in the school’s original 140-year-old constitution.[10]
Fee Regulation and Land Rent Arrears
[edit]The Jammu and Kashmir Fee Fixation and Regulation Committee (FFRC) has frequently flagged the school for charging "unauthorized" and "voluntary" fees for excursions and infrastructure, often exceeding government-mandated caps. Furthermore, the school has been involved in long-standing litigation regarding unpaid land rent for the 85-kanal Sheikh Bagh campus, with arrears dating back to the 1980s. As of March 2026, the school is seeking re-registration of its by-laws amidst ongoing government audits.[11]
Security and Student Governance
[edit]In recent years, the school has faced internal criticism regarding the disparity in treatment between regular students and the children of the management. Reports from students and local social media accounts have highlighted the presence of personal security details for certain students and the suppression of student-led online forums through threats of legal action and surveillance.[12]
Notable alumni
[edit]- Farooq Abdullah – (born 1937) politician and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
- Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi - (born 1976) politician and Member of parliament
- Ishfaq Ahmed – (born 1983), a professional footballer and the head coach of I-League club Real Kashmir
- Agha Shaukat Ali – (1920–2013) Kashmiri civil servant turned Pakistani politician after partition
- Imran Raza Ansari – (born 1972) politician and religious scholar[citation needed]
- Dr. Anil Bhan – a cardiologist at Medanta who performed the first successful heart transplant in India. He was awarded the certificate of Honor as "Best All Round Boy" in school
- Masarat Alam Bhat – (born 1971), Kashmiri separatist leader, chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Muslim League and also serving as chairman of the Hurriyat Conference[13]
- Thupstan Chhewang (born 1947), Indian politician
- Durga Prasad Dhar – (1918–1975), Kashmiri politician and an Indian diplomat
- P. N. Dhar (1919–2012), economist and the head of Indira Gandhi's secretariat
- Khurshid Drabu CBE (1946–2018), English judge, law lecturer and Muslim community leader; first Muslim to be a judge in Britain
- Shah Faesal – (born 1983), IAS civil servant, social activist, politician[14]
- Bhagwan Gopinath – (1898 – 1968), born Gopinath Bhan, was a mystic saint of early 20th century Kashmir
- Eliezer Joldan – (1916-2001), an educationist who was the first trained graduate to profess teaching as a profession in Ladakh
- Iqbal Khan – (born 1981) is a Bollywood actor
- Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad – (1907–1972), politician and former Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
- Mohammad Shafi Qureshi (1929–2016), advocate, Indian politician and statesman from Kashmir, founder of the Congress Party in Jammu and Kashmir
- S. L. Sadhu – (1917-2012), a UNESCO award winning Kashmiri writer
- Tanvir Sadiq, Chief Spokesperson of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference
- Ashfaq Majeed Wani – (1966–1990), first commander-in-chief of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front[15]
References
[edit]- ^ "Schools in Srinagar | Ekikrat.in". ekikrat.in.
- ^ Naqash, Rayan (9 July 2017). "'Don't even think about it': Alumni of one of Kashmir's oldest schools criticise call for relocation". Scroll.in. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "Biscoe [post Tyndale-Biscoe], Cecil Earle (BSCW882CE)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ Service, Tribune News. "Tyndale Biscoe School holds annual 'Dal cross'". Tribuneindia News Service.
- ^ "Kashmir". www.kashmir-issue.com.
- ^ "AN OLD PHOTOGRAPH OF MISSION SCHOOL FATEH KADAL, SRINAGAR KASHMIR". 8 May 2016.
- ^ a b "Tyndale-Biscoe and Mallinson Schools Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir". tbmes.org.
- ^ "Historic schools of Kashmir". Rising Kashmir. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ "Crime Branch searches Tyndale Biscoe & Mallinson School". Greater Kashmir. 28 September 2020.
- ^ "High Court issues notice to Biscoe management over 'imaginary' posts". Kashmir News Service. 15 May 2023.
- ^ "Order No. FFRC/Sgr/2024/TBMS" (PDF). J&K Fee Fixation and Regulation Committee. 4 November 2024.
- ^ "Maheen Showkat vs. UT of J&K and Ors" (PDF). High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
Petitioners alleged acts of harassing, humiliation, and suppression by the school management.
- ^ "Being Masrat Alam – includes Nazir Leharwal's Famous Quote 'Are you Ishfaq ?'".
- ^ Fazili, Ehsan (9 May 2010). "The Doctor and a Civil Servant". The Tribune. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- ^ "Yasin Malik remembers Nadeem Khateeb on his anniversary". GreaterKashmir. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
External links
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| National | |
