Nawab Faizunnesa Government Girls' High School, Comilla, Bangladesh - front gate

Nawab Faizunnesa Government Girls' High School is a girls' school in

Comilla Comilla (; bn, কুমিল্লা, Kumillā, ), officially spelled Cumilla, is the fifth largest city of Bangladesh and second largest in Chittagong division. It is the administrative centre of the Comilla District. The name Comilla wa ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

, established in 1873 by Faizunnesa Choudhurani, who would in 1889 be titled India's only female ''

nawab Nawab (Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian, Punjabi , Sindhi, Urdu: ), also spelled Nawaab, Navaab, Navab, Nowab, Nabob, Nawaabshah, Nawabshah or Nobab, ...

'' by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. Faizunnesa, a wealthy ''

zamindar A zamindar (Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

'', established Faizunnesa Girls' Pilot High School, having noted the need for

female education Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education ( primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called gir ...

which would accommodate Muslim girls practising

purdah Pardah or purdah (from Hindi-Urdu , , meaning "curtain") is a religious and social practice of female seclusion prevalent among some Muslim and Hindu communities. It takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes and the requirement that wom ...

. The school taught its children in the local Bengali language rather than Urdu or Persian which were the standard languages of education at the time. The students also learned English. During the early years of its establishment, it was treated as the English medium school for girls. It was converted to a junior high school in 1889, and to a high school in 1931.

Notable alumni

* Bidya Sinha Saha Mim - renowned Bangladeshi actress. * Santi Ghose, Indian nationalist

References

External links

School page on Facebook
Schools in Comilla District Girls' schools in Bangladesh High schools in Bangladesh 1873 establishments in India Educational institutions established in 1873 {{Bangladesh-school-stub