St Gregory's School (Dhaka)
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St. Gregory's High School, Bangladesh, is a Catholic High School founded in Dhaka, British India, in 1882 by Father Gregory De Groote, a Belgian Benedictine priest and ex-student of Dhaka Collegiate School. The school, located on Subhas Bose Avenue of Luxmibazar neighborhood of old Dhaka, was named after Pope Gregory I (540–604). Brother Prodip Placid Gomes C.S.C is the current headmaster of the school.
Contents
History
In 1888, the American priests of the Congregation of Holy Cross took over the Vicariate of East Bengal from the Benedictine Fathers. At the time, Mr. and Mrs. Wise — who were Protestants — ran a school at present Wiseghat area near the River Buriganga. In this school, most of the students were of European and Anglo-Indian Catholic communities. Anglican and Baptist pastors were allowed to teach religion at this school. Father Francis Boers,C.S.C. tried many times to be a teacher of Catholic religion to the Catholic students at the school, but was not allowed. Out of frustration, he started an English-medium school on the grounds of the present adjoining St. Francis Xavier's Convent and girls' high school, that came into being later. The renamed St. Gregory's School shifted to the present site in 1896.
Until 1912, both boys and girls were students of St. Gregory's High School. When St. Francis Xavier Girls' School came into being in 1912, it became a boys' school. After creation of Pakistan in 1947, the school started the Bengali medium section. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the school has only a Bengali medium section.
Early in 1914, a one story building was torn down to make room for the present “Darjeeling “building and the latrines. Also the scout troop, the first in Dhaka, was started and had 40 scouts. Bengali replaced Latin as a second language in 1915. Later that year Father Crowley resigned as headmaster.
Basketball was introduced into the school in 1923 which is believed to be the first time basketball was played in the country.[citation needed] In July 1923, Father Hennessy gained permission to change the European style school to the Education Board examination. On June 2, 1924, permanent recognition was granted to St. Gregory’s.
Professor Amartya Sen who won a Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998 had been a student of St. Gregory’s . During a visit to Dhaka on December 19, 1998, he visited the school of his childhood and was present at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new school building.
Students of the school are known as " The Gregorians". The "Gregorian Association" is the official alumni club of this school.
Shaheed teachers and the Massacre in 1971
Two of the three teachers of St. Gregory’s High School who were murdered by the occupying Pakistani army in 1971 were kidnapped from the school premises on 31 March 1971.[citation needed] The teachers were taken to a nearby army camp in Jagannath College. On that day, the Chaudhury, along with two of his teenage sons, who were students of St. Gregory’s at the time, were murdered. Mr. Monoranjan Poddar, a student of Jagannath College and Mr. Sutradhar’s brother-in-law was also kidnapped by the army from the school and was murdered on 31 March 1971.[citation needed] At least 30 other people were taken from St. Gregory’s High School that day who were also murdered by the army.[citation needed] Brother Robert Hughes, C.S.C., the headmaster of the school, tried to secure the two teachers’ release but failed.[citation needed]
The Pakistan army killed the retired teacher, Mr. Peter D'Costa, with 13 other villagers at Rangamatia Village of the then Dhaka District on November 26, 1971.[1]
Co-curricular clubs of the school
These include Science, Debating, cultural, chess, Quiz and Ecology clubs.
Notable alumni
Politics
- Tajuddin Ahmad (first Prime Minister of Bangladesh)
- Dr. Kamal Hossain (former Law and Justice minister of Bangladesh)
- Dr. A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury (former President of Bangladesh)
- Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury (Foreign Affairs Advisor, People's Republic of Bangladesh)
- Hubert Costa (Member of Parliament of Poland)
- M. Osman Siddique (first U.S. ambassador to Fiji)
- A. K. Faezul Huq (former minister, lawyer, and freelance journalist)
- Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf (former Food and Disaster Management and Relief Minister of Bangladesh and politician)
Education
- Dr. Amartya Sen (World-renowned economist and Nobel Laureate in Economics—1998)
Cultural sectors
- Mustafa Zaman Abbasi (folk singer)
- Late Samar Das(Performing Arts in Bangladesh)
- Shahriar Kabir (writer and human rights activist)
- Qazi Anwar Hussain ( Founder of 'SEBA Prokashoni' and the creator of famous character 'Masud Rana')
- Bhanu Bandopadhyay (comedian)
- Tanim Sufyani (singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Vocals at Pledge Karma and formerly Stentorian)
Sports
- Late Abdur Rahim (footballer and national coach of Bangladesh)
- Raqibul Hasan (first captain of Bangladesh Cricket Team)
- Shafiq-ul-Haq (Hira)(former Bangladesh Cricket Team captain and team manager)
- Raisuddin Ahmed (basketball player, sports organizer, lifetime member of ICC)
- Enamul Hossain Rajib (5th Grandmaster of Bangladesh)
- Ashraful Haque (former Bangladesh Cricketer, former chief-executive of Asian Cricket Council)
Scholarships
- A. K. Faezul Huq Scholarship[2]
References
Bibliography
- D'Costa, Jerome (1988) Bangladeshey Catholic Mondoli (The Catholic Church in Bangladesh), Vol.I, pp. 470–471, Dhaka: Pratibeshi Prakashani.
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