Midnapore Collegiate School

The school was established by people of Midnapore. With the economic help of Tezchandra Mehtab Raybahadur, the school had started its journey with a few thatched huts and 18 students. The first headmaster was Rasiklal Sen and after just two years, the school got the honour of Governmental Zilla School in 1836. When Calcutta University was established in 1857, the school came under its supervision. During the time of British Headmasters Sir F. Tydd and Mr. Sinclare, their thought about teaching was,"the interrogative system of teaching should be carefully pursued during every step of the scholar's progress as the simplest and most effectual means of conveying knowledge." 'Sahityasamrat' of Bengal, Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and his elder brother studied here.Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay studied here from 1845 to 1849. == Rajnarayan era ==

Rajnarayan Bose, the socio-religious reformer and educationist took over the post of headmaster in 1851, i.e., • He abolished corporal punishment and introduced a friendly and cooperative atmosphere among the teachers and students to make education more interesting to them. • He hated the procedure of "committing to memory and vomiting to paper". He followed the rule of teaching through interaction of both students and teachers. His eloquent speeches with humorous jokes attracted all students in the class. He put stress on interrogative teaching, so that the fundamentals of the student becomes strong. • He understood that the students also need physical exercise and sports so he made a lawn tennis court and a gymnasium in the school premises. • He observed that students sitting on benches without back-support cannot keep their backs straight, so their attention span becomes shorter while studying. So he introduced seats with back-supports for the first time. • Being an active leader of Young Bengal, he was moved by the 'Academic Association' of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio so he introduced Debate Associations and Mutual Improvement Association in school level. Due to his ideas, the school was part of nationalist movements, widow-marriage, female education, Brahmo Samaj movements and many more socio-political activities. He was probably the first headmaster of any governmental school who had dared to inspire his students to join the freedom movement and even had hoisted the national flag on the school premises. He adorned the chair of Headmaster till 1866. == The age of nationalism ==

The school in Midnapore was noted for nurturing the nationalist movement. Teachers like Hemchandra Kanungo, Ganendranath Basu, Pyarilal Ghosh, were noted for their nationalist teachings. Khudiram Bose, probably the youngest martyr hanged, was an alumnus of the school. He was recruited to the Anushilan Samiti by Hem Chandra Kanungo, a teacher of this school. His 'guru' in this field was Satyendranath Basu, an alumnus as well as a teacher of this school. He smilingly took the hangman's noose on 11 August 1908. A statue of him can be seen in the school's garden now. Khudiram's political master, Satyendranath Basu was hanged in the same year on 23 November. Another alumnus, Anath bandhu Panja went to the gallows in 1933. Tyrant District Magistrate James Peddie was shot dead on 7 April 1931, inside the school by two freedom fighters, Shri Bimal Dasgupta and Jyoti Jibon Ghosh. One can still find this room in this school which had been reconstructed and inaugurated by the main suspect in the political-murder case, Bimal Dasgupta himself. During those fiery days, the school had a student named Prabodh Kumar Bandopadhyay who secured first division with letter marks in compulsory and optional mathematics in 1926. But the world of Bengali Literature knows him in a different name, Manik Bandopadhyay. == Succession list of Principals ==

• Manik Bandopadhyay - renowned Bengali novelist. • Khudiram Bose - martyr of Indian freedom movement. • Soumya Sankar Bose - renowned Indian artist. • Sir Abdur Rahim - Muslim League politician and Justice. • Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy - first Muslim Vice-chancellor of Calcutta University. • Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay - author of Vande Mataram • Anath Bondhu Panja - revolutionary and martyred, member of the Bengal Volunteers • Satyendranath Basu -Indian freedom fighter and member of Anushilan Samiti ==Notes==