Oldest School In Kolkata Rich History With Quality Education

British brought modern education to India. They founded some of the best schools in Kolkata. The 150+ years old schools in Kolkata managed to combine their rich history and values with a high-quality education. St. Thomas School, established in 1789, is the oldest school in Kolkata.

1. St Thomas School, Kolkata(1789)

Established in 1789, St Thomas School, is the fourth oldest school in India and the oldest school in Kolkata. The sprawling 26 acres campus of St. Thomas is one of the largest in Kolkata. The green campus is comprised of three football size fields, two basketball courts, and playgrounds for children. Campus houses boys’ and girls’ schools, an Engineering college, and St. Stephen’s Church.

In 1790, Calcutta Free School was started at a 15 bigha plot with a house. In 1923 the school was officially named St. Thomas’ School after the Apostle on whose day the school had been founded.

During World War II, the school was converted into a military hospital. It was only after post-independence the school opened door to non-Europeans and other communities.

The school is affiliated with ICSE.

2. Hindu School, Kolkata (1817)

Established in 1817, Hindu School is the seventh oldest school in India, located in College Street, Kolkata.

Hindu School is also considered the oldest modern educational institution in Asia. The institution played a prime role during the Bengal Renaissance period.

With the establishment of the Supreme Court of Calcutta in 1773, many Hindus of Bengal showed eagerness to learn the English language. The school aimed to spread liberal education to the children of the members of the Hindu Community. 

The school was founded by well-known people: Raja Rammohan Roy, Sir Edward Hyde East, Radhakanta Deb of Sovabazar Rajbari, David Hare, Rasamay Dutt, and Baidyanath Mukhopadhya.

In 1855 the Pathshala part was renamed Hindu School, and the Mahapathshala part became Presidency College, Kolkata.

Currently, it is a state government-administered school supported by the Government of West Bengal.

Notable Alumni –

• Satyendranath Tagore – First Indian in Indian Civil Service
• Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee – co-founder and the first president of the Indian National Congress
• Keshob Chandra Sen – social reformer
• Michael Modhusudan Dutt – Pioneer of Bengali drama

3. Hare School(1818)

Hare School is one of the oldest schools in Kolkata, is also considered to be the oldest Western-styled school in Asia. Scottish watchmaker, David Hare with the help of social reformer Ram Mohan Roy, established this all-boys school in the year 1818. The school is situated opposite the Presidency University and is adjacent to the University of Calcutta and Hindu School. Currently, it is a state government-administered school.  

After its beginnings as Arpuli Pathshala and later as Colootala Branch School, it was renamed Hare School in 1867.

David Hare was a wealthy businessman. However, his mind was distracted by the deplorable conditions of the local population. He devoted himself entirely to the cause of the educational upliftment of Indians.

The school teaches grades one to twelve under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. 

Notable Alumni – 

• Jagdish Chandra Bose – scientist
• Prafulla Chandra Roy – Founder of Bengal Chemical
• Nagendra Prasad Sarbadikari – first Indian footballer

Also Read: Golondaaj – A Biopic movie On First Indian Footballer Nagendra Prasad Sarbadikari

• Meghnad Saha – Scientist
• Ziaur Rahman – President of Bangladesh 1977–1981

4. Sanskrit Collegiate School, Kolkata (1826)

Sanskrit Collegiate School was established by the then Bengal intelligentsia along with Sanskrit College, Calcutta.

In 1851, under the principalship of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the school started admitting students from other than the Brahmin caste.

In the pre-independence era, it was one of the best seats of academic excellence in matters of Hinduism, eastern philosophy, ancient Indian history, and ancient Indian languages like Pali and Prakrit. It is well known for the contribution of its faculty and students in the social, cultural, and religious transformation during the Bengal Renaissance. In terms of scholarship and intellectual output, it contributed hugely to enriching the knowledge of ancient Indian society and the interpretation of ancient Indian texts.

Sanskrit Collegiate School is situated opposite the Presidency University and Hindu School and next to the University of Calcutta. The school is affiliated with the West Bengal Board.

Notable Alumni – 

• Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar – Indian educator and social reformer
• Abanindranath Tagore – Artist

5. La Martiniere School(1836)

La Martiniere (informally known as LMC) is an elite, independent private day school located in Kolkata. It comprises two single-gender boys and girls schools. It was established in 1836 following the will of the French soldier of fortune and philanthropist, Major General Claude Martin. They are Christian schools, controlled by the Anglican Church of North India and independent from the government, with English as the primary language of instruction.

In 1752, a 17-year old Frenchman named Claude Martin came to India as a humble private in the armies of the East India Company. But Claude Martin rose rapidly to the rank of Major General. By the time of his death in September 1800, he had amassed property worth over half a million pounds sterling.

However, Claude Martin was a generous man of vision, and he donated money to start schools in Calcutta, Lucknow, and in Lyon, in his native land of France. 

It took 30 years to dispose off the litigation arising out of Claude Martin’s will. Finally, as per the supreme court decision, La Martiniere Schools opened in Calcutta on 1st March 1836.

La Martiniere Calcutta is often ranked among the best day schools in the country and has produced a distinguished list of alumni in all walks of Indian and British society.

Notable Alumni

• Pritish Nandy – Poet, Journalist, and Film producer
• Prannoy Roy – Founder NDTV
• Suhel Seth – Advertising professional and TV personality
• Swapan Dasgupta – Journalist, Political commentator, and Member of Parliament
• Nafisa Ali – actress/ model, Miss India 1975
• Kiran Rao – film producer (Dhobi Ghat)
• Vijay Mallya – Chairman of the UB Group
• C. K. Birla – Hindustan Motors
• Leander Paes – Tennis player

6. Loreto House Kolkata(1842)

Established in 1842, Loreto House Kolkata is the first Loreto institution in India.

In 1840, Dr. Bakhaus visited Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham, Ireland, to request Mother Teresa Ball to send sisters to set up a school for Catholic children in Calcutta. In response to this, Mother Teresa Ball sent 7 Loreto Sisters and 5 Postulates, all in their twenties, under the leadership of Delphine Hart to India, with the belief that they would probably never see their homeland again. These pioneers landed at Babughat, Kolkata, on December 29, 1841.

With sixty students, the school started at a house.

Initially, The school was established for the education of Catholic girls. However, it has long admitted students of many religious beliefs.

The main aim of the school is to give its students sound moral education while nurturing the hidden talents in them. The school follows ICSE and ISC board syllabus. 

Notable Alumni

• Riddhima Ghosh – Bengali Actress 
• Raima Sen – Bengali Actress
• Shobhana Bhartia – Chairperson Hindustan Times Media group

7. Uttarpara Govt. High School

Uttarpara Government High School is a school situated in Uttarpara, a town near Serampore City in Hooghly District, West Bengal. Babu Jay Krishna Mukhopadhyay and Babu Raj Krishna Mukhopadhyay founded the school on 16 May 1846. 

In 1835 Education Minutes, Lord Macaulay, Law Member of the Supreme Council, rejected Indian languages as being obsolete for communication media to deserve consideration for the patronage of the colonial govt. 

English education, therefore, became a valid passport for jobs to the middle and upper-middle-class people of the mid-19th century Bengal. Naturally, this policy increased the demand for English High schools.

Babu Joy Krishna had an English education, and he had gotten the opportunity to interact closely with the English people for quite a long time. He developed the idea of setting up one English High school in his locality. His brother Babu Rajkrishna and the people of this locality supported him in this noble cause.

At the end of 1845, both Joykrishna and Raj Krishna wrote an application to the then Magistrate of Howrah, Mr. G.F. Cockburn

for the opening of a good school in Uttarpara. In their application, they also promised to pay Rs. 100/- per month from their landed property to the school. Moreover, they also assured the Govt. that if the Govt. would accept the proposal for the school, then the people of this locality would give financial support to the school. 

As a result of this, the school at Uttarpara was opened in March 1846 in a few scattered hutments near Bally Khal originally meant to house the workers of Bally Tension Bridge. To start with, the school had Mr. Robert Hand as the Headmaster with only one assistant master named Mr. C. Grant and an enrolled student strength of 167.

Currently, The school is directly under the Government of West Bengal.

8. Bethune School (1849)

Bethune school, established in 1849, was the first women’s school in whole Asia. It was founded as the Calcutta Female School in 1849 by John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune, with the financial support of Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee. The school started in Mukherjee’s home with 21 girls enrolled. The following year, enrolment rose to 80. 

But the support for the school waned after Bethune’s death in August 1851. The government had to intervene. In 1856, They renamed the school Bethune School after its founder. In 1879 it was developed into Bethune College, the first women’s college in India.

Notable Alumni

• Kadambini Ganguly – One of the first Indian female doctor

Also Read: Kadambini Serial – A Biopic On Bengal’s First Female Doctor

9. Calcutta Girls High School Kolkata(1856)

Calcutta Girls’ High School was founded in 1856 as a boarding school under the patronage of the Governor-General of India, Lord Canning. The Methodist Church in India now manages the school is under the supervision of the Calcutta Christian School Society. 

The school provides high-quality education at an affordable cost. The school takes in admissions based on vacancies and one of the best girls’ schools in Kolkata.

10. Xavier’s Collegiate School(1860)

One of the best schools in Kolkata, St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, was established for the education of catholic boys in the year, 1860 by the Jesuits but admits students of every caste, creed, and religion.

The school’s motto, in Latin, is Laborare Est Orare, which means work is worship. The present imposing five-storied building was built from 1934 to 1940 for Rs 9 lakhs, which was collected partly from the public of Calcutta, assistance from Belgium, and the huge rental received from the American army that occupied the building during World War II.

Notable Alumni

• Jyoti Basu – Longest-serving Chief Minister of West Bengal 
• Kaushik Basu – Former chief economist of the World Bank
• Aditya Vikram Birla – Industrialist
• Jagadish Chandra Bose – Scientist
• Utpal Dutt – Actor
• Sourav Ganguly – Former captain of the Indian cricket team
• Sanjiv Goenka – Chairman, RPG Enterprises
• Raj Kapoor – Actor, Producer, Director
• Derek O’Brien – Quizmaster, Parliamentarian
• Siddhartha Shankar Ray – Former Chief Minister of West Bengal
• General Shankar Roychoudhury – Former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army
• Sanjeev Sanyal – Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India
• Rabindranath Tagore – the recipient of Nobel Prize 
• Satyendranath Tagore – first Indian to join the Indian Civil Service
• Shashi Tharoor – Eminent parliamentarian

11. St James School Kolkata(1864)

St. James’ School was founded on July 25, 1864, by the Bishop of Calcutta, Revd. George Edward Cotton(Bishop Cotton). 

Bishop Cotton took a personal interest in the project. He had a vision that students, irrespective of their language, color, or creed, should grow up in an institution devoid of racial prejudice and be able to express themselves fearlessly all through life.

In the first twenty years of its existence, the school faced intensive financial difficulties and had to be closed in December 1904. With the help of funding from the church, the school reopened to a stage to reach its zenith. 

When World War II broke out, the school campus was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force, and the school had to shut down once again. 

After the war, it took two years to resume classes in July 1947. 

This all-boys school is associated with the ICSE and ISC Board of Education. 

Notable Alumni

• Arjun Atwal – Golfer
• Pritam – Bollywood music director
• Sanjeev Sanyal – Economist and environmentalist
• Rohit K. Dasgupta – Politician
• Sujoy Ghosh – Filmmaker
• Sagar Daryani – Founder, WoW Momos

12. Calcutta Boys School Kolkata (1877)

This Christian minority day school for boys is under the authority of the Bengal Regional Conference of the Methodist Church. The origins of the school are closely linked with the establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Church in India. 

It was Bishop James Mills Thoburn who founded the Calcutta Boys’ School in the year 1877. First located at Mott Lane and then later housed in a room on Corporation Street (known as S. N. Banerjee Road today), the school struggled for survival without a building of its own. It acquired a permanent residence in 1893 thanks to the generosity of Sir Robert Laidlaw, founder of the Whiteaway, Laidlaw & Company. The school takes in admissions based on vacancies.

Notable Alumni

• Altamas Kabir – Former Chief Justice of India
• Amit Mitra – Finance Minister of West Bengal