History
Formation & Growth
The ‘Boys’ School’ at Jail Road emerged from a perceived need in the first decade of the 20th century among the members of the Bengali community, particularly those residing within this locality of Shillong and also, generally, across the breadth of the city then, to impart primary-level education to its children through the linguistic medium of Bangla.
There had thus ensued – ‘The Jail Road Infant School’ in the year 1913, the ‘Jail Road Boys’ Middle English School’, in 1922 and the capacity expansion in infrastructure that led to the ‘Jail Road Boys’ High School’, in the years between 1929 and 1933. The 20-year trajectory of progress had culminated in the first batch of our students writing their Matriculation Exam in 1935, following an official grant of recognition a year earlier, by the University of Calcutta.
Succeeding decades have seen our instructional medium being replaced by English, thereby attributing us with greater internal diversity; a trait which continues to define us with singular strength, to this very day.
Our school was also a formative space for two current institutions of higher learning in Meghalaya namely, the Shillong College and the Post-Graduate Training College. These had both functioned within our premises, the former, for 6 years from August, 1956 and the latter, for over a decade from March, 1964, before each was conveyed to its present campus within the city.
The most recent upgrade on our timeline was in our recognition as a ‘Higher-Secondary’ institution. This was enacted by the State Government of Meghalaya in keeping with the National Policy on Education, 1986 and in acknowledgment of a positive consistency in our ‘Board Exam’ results. We thus admitted our first co-educational batches into the ‘Higher-Secondary Science-Stream’ in 1997 and very recently – into an as yet, nascent ‘Commerce-Stream’, in 2018.
Heads of the Institution
A chronological list of Headmasters and Principals who have led the administration of our school and its predecessors, is presented as under.
| Name | Tenure |
|---|---|
| (L) Babu Rajendra Chandra Choudhury | 1913-1920 |
| (L) Babu Dwijendra Nath Dhar | 1920-1922 |
| (L) Shri Sudhindra Kumar Nandi | 1922-1923 |
| (L) Shri Satish Chandra Bhattacharjee | 1923-1925 |
| (L) Shri Satish Chandra Sikidar | 1925-1960 |
| (L) Shri Jogendra Nath Chaudhury | 1960-1962 |
| (L) Shri Bhupendra Narayan Ray Chaudhury | 1962-1963 |
| (L) Shri Purna Chandra Paul Chaudhury | 1963-1969 |
| (L )Shri Sudhir Chandra Chakravarty | 1970-1971 |
| (L) Shri Ketaki Ranjan Deb | 1971-1975 |
| (L) Shri Manmathnath Kumar Bhattacharjee | 1975-1984 |
| Shri Subash Bhattacharjee | 1984-1988 |
| (L) Shri Amal Kanti Dutta | 1988-2002 |
| (L) Shri Radhika Ranjan Deb Kanungo | 2002-2004 |
| (L) Shri Prashanta Kumar Bhattacharjee | 2005-2008 |
| Shri Gauranga Das Purkayastha | 2008-2013 |
| Smti. Sumitra Choudhury | 2014-2016 |
| Smti. Chandrima Bhattacharjee | 2016-2020 |
| Shri Jibananda Pal | 2020 - till date |
Satish Chandra Sikidar
Central to our school’s past, its abiding image, character and reputation, are the memories and the persona of the ‘High School’s’ founding headmaster, (L) Shri Satish Chandra Sikidar (1st December 1895 – 5th April 1967). A dynamic educationist, Shri Sikidar had assumed the helm of the Jail Road Boys’ Middle English School in 1925 and had overseen its transformation into a high school of regional repute.
A steady increase in our institutional scope and community imprint was unanimously evident throughout his 35 years of service until 1960. This was most apparent in the aftermath of India’s ‘Partition’, when the social responsibility of enrolling students, who had been displaced into Shillong was borne by the decision to expand our infrastructure and create the major buildings of our frontage and periphery, that are seen today.
As an exceptional administrator who could balance the foundational ideals of learning on a fulcrum of practicality, Shri Sikidar led an enthusiastic group of teachers and promoted a culture of critical scrutiny in the teaching practices of our classrooms. For their closure, these positive increments stood collectively fructified in the regularity of ‘Merit-List’ ranks obtained by our students under his comprehensive tutorship and organizational guidance.
Beyond the rigors of curriculum, the atmosphere of creativity that he helped encourage within the school too, stands as a highlight of his term. He remains ageless today in the personal memories of many an alumnus and indeed, in the associations drawn by all who have known our school.
Our 'Guides'
From a hut on the boundary of the District Jail, our school was fashioned into its expansive totality by far-sighted individuals whose indelible contributions, in our formative decades, remain preserved for posterity in our collective institutional memory. We mention some of their names here, along with brief summaries of the circumstances, which connected them to the school.
Shri Sadaya-Charan Das, a retired District Magistrate, who had founded the Jail Road Society Hall. His efforts were responsible for emplacing this socio-cultural institution on a grant of land in Jail Road in 1896, under the colonial administration of Assam. The Jail Road Infant School was constructed by the Society Hall in 1913, on the southern boundary of this area.
Shri Hara Kumar Bhattacharjee, who in his tenure between 1923 and 1969, had been the ‘Head Teacher’ of the ‘Jail Road Shishu Vidyalaya’ and thereafter, of our ‘Primary Section’. He was a pioneer in our school for incorporating regular music lessons in his teaching regimen, besides also being a qualified ‘Scoutmaster’. His contributions were equally notable in the school’s transformation into a ‘Middle English’ academy in the 1920s.
Dr. Pulin Behari Deb, a renowned physician in Shillong, who had been the Chairman of the Managing Committee of our school in 1925, when Shri Satish Chandra Sikidar was confirmed as its ‘Head-Master’. Dr. Deb was subsequently also involved in the processes that preceded our recognition as ‘Jail Road Boys’ High School’, in 1934.
Rai-Sahab Surendra Chandra Dutta and Rai-Sahab Devendra Chandra Choudhury, who had successively chaired our Managing Committee between the late-1920s and the early-to-mid-1930s, overseeing the school’s elevation to a level commensurate with the requirements for a ‘High School’.
- The preceding premise was enabled a sequitur when the University of Calcutta had granted us its official recognition. Crucial to this achievement was also the work done by a committee that had specifically been instituted by the school for this purpose. Notable among its members were –
Shri Dinesh Chandra Das,
Shri Jatindra Nath Dutta,
Shri Anath Bandu Dutta,
Shri Jatindra Nath Das,
Shri Satis Chandra Choudhury and
Shri Satish Chandra Sikidar (as the school’s Headmaster).
Shri A.B. Choudhury, a high-ranking official who had served in the Assam Secretariat and later, a Secretary of our school, who was instrumental in his hard work alongside Shri Sikidar, to secure the school on a firm-footing, vis-à-vis the school’s official recognition in 1934, its preceding systemic improvements and also, in surmounting its numerous procedural hurdles.
- A decision to construct new buildings for the school was taken in 1949, to manage a heavy inflow of students from the erstwhile ‘East Pakistan’. Our Managing Committee was then chaired by Shri B.K. Dutta and the schematics for the new structures were drawn up by Shri Durga Kr. Dhar. The construction soon thereafter, was carried out by Shri J.C. Sen, a contractor and engineer from Jail Road, who had been keenly involved in this undertaking.
There were many more individuals who had contributed selflessly for our school’s creation and in its initial growth. The above is therefore not an exhaustive list of absolute specificity.