Bogra Zilla School ( bn, বগুড়া জিলা স্কুল) is one of the oldest high schools in the

Bogra District Bogra District, officially known as Bogura District, is a district in the northern part of Bangladesh, in the Rajshahi Division. Bogra is an industrial city where many small and mid-sized companies are sited. Bogra was a part of the ancient Pun ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and one of the top-ranked schools in the country. It provides education from class three (Grade-3) to class ten (Grade-10). It was a private English medium school before becoming a public school.

History

Bogra Zilla School was established in 1853. Babu Bhagabati Charan Ghosh was the first headmaster. It was a private (non-government) school before becoming a public one. It came under governmental management through the efforts of the magistrate and collector Mr. Russell and deputy collector Babu S. Mukharjee. This school observed its 150th anniversary celebration in 2005. Bogra Zilla School was the second government high school in the Bogra district during British rule. Babu Bhagabati Charan Ghosh was appointed Headmaster of the school and held the post for six years. Bogra's native son Babu Kishoree Lal Roy, who is the author of many philosophical writings, was an early student of this school. In his book '' Free Enquiry after Truth'' he wrote, ''“In 1853 a Government English school was established here and I obtained my entrance into it. My progress in this institution has been remarked by its first and best of its Headmasters that ever were, to have been remarkably rapid. Be it said with deep respect and gratitude that under the judicious tuition of Babu Bhagabati Charan Ghosh I obtained a useful knowledge of the English language within about four years and a half. I have always thought Bhahabati Babu to be one of my greatest benefactors on Earth and will think so for ever also.”'' There were four teachers during the period of Bhagabati Babu. According to the National School Committee, the school appears to have beeb founded principally by the sons and relatives of the clerks' officers connected with the Courts. After Bhagabati Babu, A. C. Mukharjee became Headmaster in 1859. During his tenure, two students passed in 2nd division, and one passed in 1st division with scholarship in 1862. Around this time, the practice of giving books as rewards to the students of both Bangla and English schools based on their performance was started. During the prize-giving ceremony more than a hundred

taka The Bangladeshi taka ( bn, টাকা, sign: , code: BDT, short form: Tk) is the currency of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at . Issuance of bank notes 10 and larger is controlled by Bangladesh Bank, while ...

used to be spent for fireworks. During 1859–60, the inspector of the schools of the north-east areas and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, Mr. W. Robinson, conducted the ceremony. He arranged a demonstration with a

magic lantern The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a si ...

for their entertainment and showed many interesting and educative events of nature such as the motions of the stars and planets, a solar and lunar eclipse, a cyclone, etc. From 1881 to 1885, a school building was constructed of bricks. In 1873–74, there were six teachers, one

pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

, and one moulavi in the school. There were 85 students in 1860–61. In 1907–08, the number of students was 363. Among them, 218 were

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s and 145 were

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s. The school now has 52 faculty members and 2000 students. The faculty members are graduates from universities in Bangladesh, and student applicants, mostly from top elementary schools, are put through a competitive admission selection process.

Location

Bogra Zilla School is located at the center of Bogra city, called Shatmatha. It is the nerve of Bogra town. The Circuit House is situated at the eastern border of the school and a playing ground, named Altafunnesa is situated in the southern border.

Admission

Admission is competitive. Students are admitted into class three. After an initial screening, more than 2500 applicants appear at a comprehensive admission test for only 240 positions. There are a few positions (five to ten) in class four to nine each year.

Academics

This school teaches from class three to class ten. Upon a screening in class ten, students appear at the SSC examination.

Notable alumni

Humayun Ahmed Humayun Ahmed (; 13 November 1948 – 19 July 2012) was a Bangladeshi novelist, dramatist, screenwriter, filmmaker, songwriter, scholar, and professor. His breakthrough was his debut novel ''Nondito Noroke'' published in 1972. He wrote over 200 ...

- novelist and filmmaker *

Muhammad Zafar Iqbal Muhammed Zafar Iqbal ( bn, মুহম্মদ জাফর ইকবাল; ; born 23 December 1952) is a Bangladeshi science fiction author, physicist, academic, activist & former professor of computer science and engineering and former head ...

- academician and writer *

Ziaur Rahman Lt. General Ziaur Rahman (19 January 1936 – 30 May 1981), was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1977 to 1981. He was assassinated on 30 May 1981 in Chittagong in an army coup d' ...

- former president of Bangladesh and the founder of

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী দল, Bangladesh Jātīyotābādī Dol; BNP) is a centre-right to right-wing nationalist, political party in Bangladesh and one of the major ...

Akhteruzzaman Elias Akhteruzzaman Elias (12 February 1943 – 4 January 1997) (Bengali: আখতারুজ্জামান ইলিয়াস) was a Bangladeshi novelist and short story writer. Despite writing only two novels, critics place Elias "in the pant ...

- novelist and short story writer *

Mushfiqur Rahim Mushfiqur Rahim ( bn, মুশফিকুর রহিম; born 9 May 1987) is a Bangladeshi cricketer and the former captain and vice-captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team. He is a right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper ...

- cricketer and former captain of the national team * A. T. M. Hamidul Hossain Tariq- retired army officer and veteran of Bangladesh Liberation War.

References