Kurseong: Hill schools turn 130 - Plan for alumni reunion

Kalimpong, Oct. 6: The alumni of Victoria Boys’ School and Dow Hill School will come together in Darjeeling and Kurseong to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the institutions from October 30 to November 1.

The three-day grand reunion will be inaugurated by ex-Victorian Manish Kumar — director of development project, Unicef, Delhi — at Chowrastha in Darjeeling.

Victoria Boys’ School has classes from III to X and is only for the boys as the name denotes. In Dow Hill School, both boys and girls study together till Class III, but only girls are allowed from IV to X. The two institutions are the only government-owned ICSE residential schools in Bengal.

Manoj Rana, the secretary of the North Bengal and Sikkim chapter of Victoria and Dow Hill Alumni Association (Vadha), said the idea of holding the inaugural programme in Darjeeling was to involve the entire people of the hills in the celebration of two of the oldest institutions in Darjeeling district.

“The schools, we believe, deserve to be granted some sort of heritage status for their contribution in the field of education over the past 130 years,” he added.

On the first day, students of various schools in Darjeeling will present different cultural programmes. Besides, an inter-school marathon will also be held. The celebration will be shifted to the picturesque campuses of the two schools, 3km above Kurseong town, the next day.

Dow Hill will pay host to a musical jamboree featuring famous artistes in the hills on October 31 evening.

“We expect that about 300 ex-students from across the country and abroad, particularly neighbouring Nepal, will attend the three-day celebrations,” said Rana.

The grand reunion will end on November 1 with an Autumn Ball at Dow Hill in the evening. The ball will be preceded by a seminar at Victoria in the morning. “The present principals, staff and students of the schools, too, are looking forward to celebrating the anniversary with us,” said the Vadah secretary.

The two schools were set up in 1879 by the British for the education of the children of government officials on the lines of public schools in England.

The Telegraph