Netarhat Residential School is a school in Netarhat, India. The school has a record of producing toppers of the

Bihar School Examination Board The Bihar School Examination Board (abbreviated BSEB) is a statutory body under section 3 of Bihar School Examination Act - 1952 which is functioning under Government of Bihar devised to conduct examinations at secondary and senior secondary s ...

year after year. The students have dominated the Regional Mathematics Olympiad and

National Talent Search Examination In education, an entrance examination or admission examination is an examination that educational institutions conduct to select prospective students. It may be held at any stage of education, from primary to tertiary, even though it is typic ...

(NTSE) conducted by the

National Council of Educational Research and Training The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India which was established in 1961 as a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Registration Act. Its head ...

(NCERT). Students participate in inter-house and inter-set competitions and inter-school competitions. Santosh Kumar Singh is the present principal of Netarhat Residential School.

History

Netarhat Residential School was established on 15 November 1954, after the

independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

for the people of state of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

. It was a dream of the first chief minister of Bihar, Shri Krishna Singh and his deputy chief minister and finance minister

Anugrah Narayan Sinha Anugrah Narayan Sinha (18 June 1887 – 5 July 1957), known as '' Bihar Vibhuti'', was an Indian nationalist statesman, participant in Champaran Satyagraha, Gandhian & one of the architects of modern Bihar, who was the first Deputy Chief Minis ...

to establish a centre of excellence. The educationist

Frederick Gordon Pearce Frederick Gordon Pearce (24 March 1892 – 1962) was an English educationist who served in India and Ceylon. He is regarded as the founder of the Indian public school movement. Educational philosophy Pearce was deeply influenced by the ''Teachin ...

, Jagadish Chandra Mather and Sachidanand Sinha played a vital role in making the plans for the school (or Netarhat ''Vidyalaya''). Pearce has received kudos from

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...

, then the

president of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

for his works.

Alumni

The alumni association is known as NOBA – Netarhat Old boys Association. There are chapters of NOBA, and the members meet regularly. On 12–13 November 2016, the Ranchi Chapter of NOBA organised the Global NOBA Meet at Mayuri Auditorium, CMPDI Kanke Road, Ranchi to discuss possibilities of giving back to the school and society.

Ambience

The school is situated far away from the busy life of town, on the plateau of

Chhotanagpur The Chota Nagpur Plateau is a plateau in eastern India, which covers much of Jharkhand state as well as adjacent parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar. The Indo-Gangetic plain lies to the north and east of the plateau, and the b ...

, in the state of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The whole atmosphere is based on ''Gurukul'' – away from home, staying in ''

Ashrams An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (<

Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environmentalism, ...

philosophy. The school has produced citizens who are following the

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

of school ''Atta Dipa Viharatha'' – be thy own light. The guiding

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

can be summarized by the following ''

shloka Shloka or śloka ( sa, श्लोक , from the root , Macdonell, Arthur A., ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students'', Appendix II, p. 232 (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1927). in a broader sense, according to Monier-Williams's dictionary, is ...

'' in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

etched at the entrance of the main building of the school.
ना त्वहम् कामये राज्यम् ना स्वर्गम् ना पुनर्भवम् ,
कामये दुःखतप्ताणाम् प्राणीणामार्त्ति नाशनाम् , ,
(Oh Lord, I desire not kingdom nor the heavens nor even

moksha ''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriology, ...

. All I desire is to remove the suffering from the afflicted beings.)

The school song

The school song (''हिंदी: विद्यालय गान'') of Netarhat school वन्दे! वन्दे हे सुन्दर मम सखा नेतरहाट सदा, वन्दे हे सुन्दर मम सखा नेतरहाट। धन्य महाप्रांगण यह विंध्य प्रकृति क्रीड़ा का; वन मे वनपशुओं का विचरण स्वच्छन्द यहाँ; विहगों से कंठ मिला गाते नवगान सदा, वन्दे! वन्दे हे सुन्दर मम सखा नेतरहाट सदा। उषा के साथ जगें,प्रतिदिन मंगलमय हो; कार्य पूर्ण प्रतिपल हो,ज्ञान वृद्धि जनहित हो; अंतरतर का मधुमय गाये संगीत सदा, वन्दे! वन्दे हे सुन्दर मम सखा नेतरहाट सदा। साधक हैं समता के, सत्य न्याय करुणा के हिन्द प्रेम संबल है, विश्व प्रेम साध्य बना जन जन में ज्योति जगे, सत चित्त आनंद सदा वन्दे! वन्दे हे सुन्दर मम सखा नेतरहाट सदा।

Location

Netarhat Netarhat is a hill station in Latehar district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is also referred to as the "Queen of Chotanagpur", and is a hill station. The town is also famous for Netarhat Residential School, set up in 1954. Geography Ne ...

(23°28'48"N 84°16'11"E) is located at an elevation of 1250 meters and is renowned for spectacular sunrises, sunsets, waterfalls, and beautiful flora and fauna. The nearest major railway station and airport is

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

, which is 156 kilometers away. There are buses for

from

and

Palamau Palamu district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India. It was formed in 1892. The administrative headquarter of the district is Medininagar (formerly DaltonGanj), situated on the Koel River. History The Palamu district ha ...

. Tourists from all over India and abroad visit Netarhat, whose name means Nature's Heart. However, the place may have got its name from 'Netur Haat' (which means a marketplace for bamboo in the local language). Apart from bamboo, the pine and sakhua trees add to the flora. The waterfalls Upper Ghaghri, Lower Ghaghri, Tahir, Boodhha Ghaagh and the Koel river are nearby.

Admission and curriculum

Admission to the school, which is run by the government of Jharkhand (since inception it was run by the government of

until the separation of the states) is given on the basis of three stages of examination: descriptive and multiple-choice written tests, psychological tests and personal interview. Boys between 10 and 12 years of age who are living in the state can apply for admission on a prescribed form through Sub-divisional Education Officers. As many as 20,000+ students used to vie for 100 seats (60 till the year 1982) just before the separation of the state of Bihar. Seats are reserved for the students belonging to the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other classes as defined by the state government. Students are provided education up to 10+2 level. The medium of instruction is

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and the curriculum is based on the standards set by the

Central Board of Secondary Education The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Government of India. Established in 1929 by a resolution of the government, the Board ...

. For the students of first three years ( Class VII to IX) the school has developed its own curriculum with provision for compulsory training in Music, Fine Arts, Agriculture and Crafts. Computer studies have been introduced to the school.

Administration and staff

The school has now been given the autonomous status and been named as Netarhat Vidyalaya Samiti under the control of Ministry of HRD, Govt. of Jharkahnd. Ex officio chairman of the general body of the NVS is the Minister, HRD, Govt. of Jharkhand while at present Dr. K.K Nag, ex vice chancellor Ranchi University is the chairman of the executive committee. The principal is the member secretary of the executive committee. As it is a government institution, its entire administrative system is governed and controlled by government rules and regulations. All the teachers who are Gazetted Government servants (Note: Appointed earlier to formation of Netarhat vidyalaya samiti 2012) have been entrusted academic and administrative control. The principal is overall controlling officer. Teachers come from all over the country whose appointments are made on the recommendations of the Netarhat Vidyalaya Samiti. Some of them have also gone abroad for teaching and studies under sponsored programmes (Data missing). A few teachers of the past and present have been awarded by the president of India.http://pib.nic.in/archieve/image/2005/r2005090509.doc . Press Information Bureau, Government of India There are instructors for P.T., crafts and some of the science subjects. Shri Charles James Nepier was the first principal of the school. Principals till date:

Co-curricular activities

Games, sports and physical training form a part of the routine at the Netarhat School. The school has senior division Naval wing besides the three junior divisions of N.C.C.

National Cadet Corps (India) The National Cadet Corps (NCC) is the youth wing of the Indian Armed Forces with its headquarters in New Delhi, India. It is open to school and college students on voluntary basis as a Tri-Services Organisation, comprising the Army, the Navy an ...

– Army, Air and Naval. There are four Scout troops for junior boys and they can also opt for the

Red Cross Society The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the world's largest group of non-governmental organizations working on humanitarian aid, is composed of the following bodies: *The ''International Committee of the Red Cross'' (ICRC), a comm ...

. Training in

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

and

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

is also imparted to the boys and girls. Athletics and

cross-country Cross country or cross-country may refer to: Places * Cross Country, Baltimore, a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore, Maryland * Cross County Parkway, an east–west parkway in Westchester County, NY * Cross County Shopping Center, a mall in Yo ...

competitions are held besides sports tournaments. The school has facilities for playing games like

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

kho kho Kho kho or kho-kho is a traditional Indian sport that dates back to ancient India. It is the second most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after kabaddi. Kho kho is played on a rectangular court with a central lane connec ...

kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

carrom Carrom is a tabletop game of Indian origin in which players flick discs, attempting to knock them to the corners of the board. The game is very popular in the Indian subcontinent, and is known by various names in different languages. In Sou ...

, and

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

. Annual tournaments are held for most of these games and students also participate in inter-school tournaments. The school has facilities for hobbies like wood-work, metal-work, aeromodelling, claymodelling, gardening, photography, painting and rifle training. Dramas in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

and

, debates,

elocution Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelli ...

and ''antyakshri(अन्त्याक्षरी)'' competitions are held. Some students participated in the six-week-long camp held on the plateau by

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an indepe ...

. The picturesque locale has also attracted the directors of movies including the Hindi movie ''

Hip Hip Hurray Hip hip hooray (also hippity hip hooray; ''Hooray'' may also be spelled and pronounced hoorah, hurrah, hurray etc.) is a cheer called out to express congratulation toward someone or something, in the English-speaking world and elsewhere. By a sol ...

'' Educational tours are organised by the school. Societies of students have been formed to prepare for events such as

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...

, Annual Day,

Gandhi Jayanti Gandhi Jayanti is an event celebrated in India to mark the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. It is celebrated annually on 2 October, and is one of the three national holidays of India. The UN General Assembly announced on 15 June 2007 that it adop ...

Tulsi ''Ocimum tenuiflorum'', commonly known as holy basil, ''tulsi'' or ''tulasi'', is an aromatic perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and widespread as a cultivated plant throughout the Southeast Asian ...

Jayanti,

Saraswati Puja Vasant Panchami, also called Saraswati Puja in honor of the Hindu goddess Saraswati, is a festival that marks the preparation for the arrival of spring. The festival is celebrated in Indian religions in different ways depending on the region. ...

etc.

Library and laboratories

The school has a library of around forty thousand books. The open shelf system enables students to have access to the books of their choice. Almost all important dailies, weeklies and magazines including some foreign journals are available in the library.

Fees

Fees are charged according to the income of the guardians. Poor but meritorious students are imparted free education. Clothes, books and other necessary stuff are also provided by the school. Food and lodging are subsidised for every student.

Hostels

All the students live in hostels which are called ''

Ashrams An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (<

among the

speaking population. This tradition continues even after the students pass out of the school. The Ashram chores are done by the inmates. The boarders follow a routine with provisions for ''swadhyaya''(self-study), rest, P.T., games and sports, daily chores, television, group activities etc. A senior student is appointed as a

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

for the ''

Ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or a ...

'', as well as a couple of other senior prefects. The barbers, cobblers, tailors and washermen are available on campus and the cost is borne by the school itself. There is a sick-room with a full-time medical officer. The students are not allowed to wear any clothes or accessories other than those provided by the school to ensure uniformity. Hostels are grouped into seven sets or ''ashram – wargas'' for purpose of administration and competition.

Surroundings

Netarhat plateau is an abode of a variety of flora and fauna thanks to its supportive climate and copious rain. Pine martins, porcupines, leopards, monkeys, bears, civets, monitor lizards, wild pigs, scorpions, snakes and other species are found in and around Netarhat. Occasional spotting of elephants and tigers is also reported as Netarhat forest is very close to the Betla Tiger Sanctuary. Some endangered species of Indian snakes can be found here, including pythons. Netarhat School's biology laboratory has a collection of live and preserved snake varieties that include cobras, pit vipers, tree snakes and pythons. Apart from the bamboo clusters the place may have got its name from, tropical trees like mango, sal, neem, gulmohar, amaltas, mahua, etc. can be found here and even trees of cold climate like pine, silver fur, bottle brush, thuja are found. "Chilgoza" or the pine nut is type of an aromatic and nutritious dry fruit and is popular amongst students. The school has its own fruit orchard where pear, plum, guava, fig, and peach are grown. The flower garden has over 100 specious of common and exotic flowers. Netarhat School is surrounded by villages and the locals find good employment opportunities in serving the school. There are over dozen communities, each with their customs and festivals. Students can often hear in the night distant drumming sounds of tribal dance and rituals and on festivals like Sarhul and Pooja the fair organized by the locals provides a break for the students from their academic sessions. Netarhat plateau, also referred to as the ''Queen of Chotanagpur'' is studded by landmarks and tourist spots sduch as Koel view, Magnolia sunset point, Lodh waterfalls, and the Lower Ghagari waterfall. There are picnic spots in and around Netarhat School and group of students under supervision of their respective house masters(''ashramadhyaksha'') traditionally go to spend a weekend once in a year during the "mid-term break". Some of the most popular spots are Banari on the banks of the Koel river, Upper Gahgari waterfall near Netarhat dam, Tahir, Naina, Aadhe, and Raja Dera.

Shortcomings and issues

These points are listed here to provide a balanced overview to a prospective student. In the initial 20–30 years, this school managed to do amazing to bring world class education in affordable way. This showed up in the glowing achievements of alumni who were praised all around for exceptional results in life. Over the time though, some systematic failures started appearing aided by various factors. Late 70s started the trend and early 90s saw the peak of these shortcomings. This also resulted in declining popularity of this institutions among the masses. Poorly performing alumni also contributed to the decline in popularity.

Decline in educational standards

When this school was started, teachers were recruited from all over India based on merit, and they were given best salaries. After 1980, Bihar government started recruiting teachers from Bihar state only. Nowadays salaries are also not so high as earlier (as salary structure has been decreased). Good teachers stopped coming. The job nature just matched with low-grade private schools, which led to severe decline in standards and education quality. School failed to keep up with times. Whatever system was put in place during initial years are no longer sufficient for the 21st century. Government interfered to increase admission counts per year ~~without updating the infrastructure or budget~~. House masters are expected to have effective oversight on inmates, but they rarely come out to see the surroundings. A gurukul system entails teachers and students interacting for majority of the time during waking hours. The spirit has gone down drastically. Students from age group 10–14 are left to fend for themselves against seniors without effective supervision.

Abundance of coaching trained students

Many coaching schools opened up in Beguserai, Lakhiserai and Patna to train students for admission to this school. Students were rigorously trained to clear these exams in extreme conditions. Records would be fudged up to show lower age considering that only students in a certain age group were allowed. Most of the students from these coaching institutions would do very good in entrance examination, but start faltering once in school. Many of them does not even get good jobs after long time. Some times, even allegations were aired about certain principals taking bribe to overlook over age and other tell tale signs of such rigging of the system.

Misuse of scholarship scheme

Many students from well off rural families would claim to come from agriculture background with no significant incomes and thus avail of lowest fees structure. This leads to school being fully dependent on government grants.

High standard of facilities

Medical facilities are nowadays above standard and a ~~full-time doctor~~ along with compounder resided at the campus. The sports department is also fully equipped and the in charges are very dedicated towards their work. Library is grossly utilized and it is stocked with new as well as ancient books which is the distinctive feature of the school. Arts & Music teachers are mostly above standard quality compared to original teachers. Huge up lift is being done recent times, but still a lot needs to be done. Food quality is a great feature of Netarhat School as the quality of raw materials procured by the school administration is extremely high. Power situation has been improved, and the school is going to install three new large capacity generator sets as an alternative source.

Maoist problems

Jungles around the school are now strong bastions of Maoist activities. They do not disturb the students or school, but movement of students and faculty is limited to the school campus only. Students go deep in jungle to see falls and enjoy nature.

References

External links

Official websiteThe Last Gurukul – A DocumentaryNetarhat Old boys Association website
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=WmZfr6ERN64C&pg=PA132&lpg=PA132&dq=f+g+pearce+netarhat&source=web&ots=_41hcybrNw&sig=yrkaXL9olpQVj3ADZAyGgrOToDc&hl=en#PPA132,M1 President Dr. Rajendra Prasad writes about Netarhat School to Mr. F. G. Pearce]
Netarhat School completes 50 years: A report in the Times of IndiaNetarhat School toppers: The Telegraph

Decline in Tourism due to Naxalism

Proposal to revive former glory of Netarhat School

Declining name and revival plans of government about Netarhat
{{Portal bar, India, Education, School Educational institutions established in 1954 Schools in Jharkhand Boys' schools in India Boarding schools in Jharkhand 1954 establishments in Bihar