Page 69 - EducationWorld Oct. 2022

Cover Story EW BOYS BOARDING SCHOOLS RANKINGS 2022 23

INDIA’S BEST BOYS BOARDING SCHOOLS

With several hitherto highly ranked boys boarding schools tally supressed and the British Crown
including Mayo College, Ajmer, Scindia School, Gwalior, dropping all pretence, took direct
Bishop Cotton, Shimla and St. Paul’s, Darjeeling among charge of administering the Indian
others transferred to the new vintage legacy category, there’s subcontinent, upper class British gov-
ernors general were quick to discern
been a major rearrangement of seating in this league table the advantages of replicating Brit-
ain’s famous boarding schools, which
would leave parents free to conquer
and subjugate the natives in India, in
expensively developed rest and recre-
ation hill stations in salubrious climes.
Hence, Christian, especially Anglican
Church of England missionaries, were
actively encouraged to promote Brit-
ish boys boarding schools in the sub-
continent.
Thus several British-style boys
(and impressively progressive co-ed
boarding) schools including B i h -
s
op C otton B oy s . S h i m l a (1858)
and Bangalore (1865); L a w re n c e
S c h ool , S a n a w a r (1847) and Ooty
(1858). S h e rw ood C ol l e g e , N a in i -
ta l (1869) among others, were estab-
lished to educate the progeny of the
British ruling class in India. For over
half a century, these schools admitted
only white and Anglo-Indian children
TDS headmaster Dr. Jagpreet Singh: rightful position though a few exceptions were made in
favour of highly placed Indians from
he history of modern prima- upper class conformity, discipline, the 1930s onward.
ry-secondary education has self-reliance and healthy disdain for Meanwhile special lavishly en-
M
been profoundly influenced the working class. dowed primary-secondaries — a y o
Tby boys boarding schools. With the passage of time and as im- C ol l e g e , A j m e r (estb. 1875), D a l y
R
Initially boarding schools were pro- perial Britain more by happenstance C ol l e g e , I n dore (1882) and a j k u -
moted in 15th century England to pro- and luck evolved into a major mili- m a r C ol l e g e , R a j k ot (1868) among
vide board and lodging to orphaned tary and industrial power, this lonely others — were promoted to educate
children of the working class obliged wind-swept country’s elite boarding the children of the maharajahs, rajahs
to farm the sprawling estates of no- schools acquired a legendary reputa- and potentates of pre-independence
bility, slog in coal mines and serve as tion for shaping battle-winning gener- India’s 525 princely states. For the
household menials. Soon the English als and administrators of the British first time, these and other schools of
upper class, stiffly unanimous that empire. Author Thomas Hughes glo- more than 90 years vintage classified
children should be seen and not heard rified Rugby College in his enduring as ‘vintage legacy schools’ are sepa-
because they may distract them from bestseller Tom Brow n’ s S c hool Day s rately ranked inter se in various cat-
their Dow nton A b b ey and Bridger- and the Duke of Wellington famously egories in the EducationWorld India
ton-style round of balls, soirees and attributed his glorious victory in the School Rankings 2022-23.
dinner parties, discovered the vir- Battle of Waterloo (1815) to his educa- Meanwhile the difficulties and
tues of packing male children off to tion on the playing fields of Eton. humiliation experienced by upper
elite boarding schools such as Eton In 18th century India, after the class Indians to enrol their children
(estb.1440), Harrow (1572) and Win- Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 (aka India’s in vintage legacy, especially boarding
chester (1382) among others to learn first War of Independence) was bru- schools, prompted S a ti h R a n j a n
s
OCTOBER 2022 EDUCATIONWORLD 71