Shri Shivaji Preparatory Military School, Pune

Shri Shivaji Preparatory Military School, Pune owes its existence to the vision of His Highness Rajaram Chhatrapati Maharaj of Kolhapur. He was instrumental in deciding the utilization of the building of the ‘Memorial Hall’ for the military school in November 1931. The great vision bloomed speedily with the commencement of classes on 20 June 1932. In Sept., 1934 the Memorial Society acquired another 25 acres of land for the playgrounds of the military school.

Overview

The main building is an imposing structure, commanding a view of the river Mutha. The sprawling campus of seventeen acres has many other buildings in it, such as kitchen refectory, infirmary, house blocks for students, staff quarters, gymnasium etc. It also has a beautiful memorial garden and extensive lawns. A new students mess equipped with latest modern cooking technology, an amphi theatre of large capacity for academics, cultural and social functions, has been added lately.

Fees/Admission

Boys are admitted to the school at two entry points, one at the pre-primary level, where boys of 4-5 years age are taken. The other entry point is at Class V, where the boys who have passed Class IV and within the age group of 9-10 years are admitted. For other classes admission depends on dropouts and withdrawals. The admission forms are normally available from November to January and the last date for receipt of applications is 10th Feb.

All applicants have to first register their names as per instructions given in the application form. An entrance test is held annually in April/ May for the academic session starting in June. Every year a fresh registration is to be made, as names are not carried forward to subsequent years.

Academics

Sports

The school has its games and sports complex about one km from the main campus, which is spread over twenty acres. In the field of games & sports the school has provision for all the major games, such as hockey, football, volleyball, baske ball, cricket etc. Facilities for swimming, riding, boating & a host of other sports also exist. The morning P.T. is compulsory for all students and besides it, training in yoga, karate, judo, gymnastics is given to selected students. It offers qualitative education in state syllabus with special emphasis on defence studies, value education, environmental science & computer education.

Extra Curricular Activities

Facilities for hobbies such as philately, aero-modelling, ship-modelling, metalwork, music and orchestra, art and craft, clay-modelling, gardening etc. are available. The school also has an Art Society, a Photography Club, a Music Club and many other societies.

Former headmasters

Notable students

Daler Mehndi- Indian Bhangra/pop singer. Attend for one year at age 17. When asked about his time at Shri Shivaji Daler said, "It was horrible, every time I sang, I was forced to eat insects as punishment. It was a very strict academy." [Deccan Chronicle 23 May 2000]

References