St Columba's School (Delhi)

St. Columba's School is one of twelve of its kind conducted by the Indian Province of the Congregation of Christian Brothers which was founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. Following the C.B.S.E. system of education since 1991, Columba's is spread over a comfortably sized campus, in the very heart of Delhi. Offering a modest range of subjects for students in Class Eleven and Twelve, Columba's was the first to introduce many a facility for the betterment of the students, such as computer sciences and computer labs. Columba's, though known for numerous prestigious events of its own, has always had a notable presence in all other inter-school events like the Columban Open Quiz, which is one of the largest inter-school quizzes in North India, attracting over 200 teams and has been at the forefront when it came to charitable causes.

History

Officially opened on Tuesday, 29th April 1941, Columba began with 32 boys in New Delhi next to the Sacred Heart Cathedral. Admitting boys till class 6, the school known for its beautiful buildings, soon grew in strength and reputation to become one of the premier institutions of education in India. It was one of the first schools in India to introduce computer education. It was a pioneer in providing other facilities like a swimming pool too.

Founder

Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice (born 1762, died 1844) was a Catholic missionary and educationalist who was Beatified by Pope John Paul II in October 1996. He was born in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1762 and died in Waterford, Ireland in 1844. His remains are in a casket in Mount Sion, Waterford.

When Edmund's wife died after an accident in 1789, he devoted himself to prayer and charitable work, particularly with the poor and marginalised. In 1802, he opened a school for them but the children were so difficult to manage that the teachers resigned. This prompted him to give up his own business and devote himself to training teachers who would dedicate their lives to prayers and to teaching the children free of charge.

He is the founder of two orders of religious brothers: The Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers.

The Christian Brothers grew throughout Ireland, England, Southern Africa, India, America and Australia and today many schools in those countries owe their existence to his vision. His mission is continued by more than 1900 brothers living in over 350 communities educating more than 200,000 students throughout the world.

Current Faculty

* Principal: Brother L. D. Lobo
* Vice-Principal: Brother Finn
* Junior School Co-Ordinator: Mrs. Anita Ghai
* Middle School Supervisor: Mrs. S. Sheel
* Senior School Supervisor: Mrs. S. George

Various Buildings

The school compound comprises 5 buildings:

* Junior School
* Middle School
* Senior School
* Edmund Rice Hall
* Residential Block

Junior School

The Junior School, built in 1955, was the second building to come up. Attendance having increased dramatically to 2200 from 600 in 3 years, its need was clearly felt. Today, this cream and brick structure houses the junior classes from K.G. to 3, including an upgraded computer lab and other facilities such as singing rooms and a separate multimedia room. The place where it was built was earlier a rose garden.

Middle School

The Middle School building, built in stark contrast to the rest of the school, not only in colour but also in style, was built in 1967-68. It now houses classes from 4 onwards to 10, with even more laboratories, a totally separate computer room, the best in the school, and, the most reminiscent place for every ex-columban, the Canteen.

The Middle Section has many facilities like a small hospital wing, auditorium, basketball court, cricket nets, a large field, computer lab, a separate multimedia lab, physics, biology and chemistry labs, one of the biggest canteens in Delhi, two libraries (one for small children and the other main), and a music room. It also has a P.A. intercom system connected to all rooms in the building.

Senior School

The most majestic of buildings, the senior school building, when built, stood alone and housed the entire school. Today, the 11th and 12th classes are to be found here along with a library, science laboratories and the administration wing. On the first floor are the residences of the Christian Brothers.

Columban Open Quiz

The Columban Open Quiz, organised by St. Columba's School every August is the biggest inter-school quiz in North India, featuring almost 250 teams of 4 members each. Started in 1987, it was earlier organised in the Diocesan Community Centre close to St. Columba's School(SCS), but from 2001 onwards it was organised in the Edmund Rice Hall, a multipurpose hall located near the Middle School. It is organised by a team comprising Senior School teachers and current and ex-students of SCS. It features tough and eclectic questions.

Alumni

Notable alumni include:

* Shah Rukh Khan, 1985, Actor and producer
* Deepak Chopra, 1963, Health Guru
* Rahul Gandhi, Congress Party and son of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
* Vivek Paul, Venture Capitalist, TPG Ventures, Former CEO Wipro Technologies & World's 25 Most Powerful (Businessweek)
* Cyrus Sahukar,MTV VJ, Actor (Rang de Basanti)
* Deepak Malhotra,1960,Doctor and Radio Broadcaster in Sydney Australia
* Sudeep Sen, Author, Poet
* Mukul Dev , 1988, Actor
* Rahul Dev , Model, Actor
* Derek O'Brien, nationally acclaimed quiz-master and author [http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/AuthorLounge/AuthorDetail.asp?aid=2603]
* Amit Burman, CEO, Dabur Foods & Davos 2007 Young World Leader
* Palash Sen, the lead singer of the band "Euphoria"
* Vikram Madhok, Managing Director, Abercrombie &Kent, Ex President of "Indo-American Chamber Of Commerce", Board of Directors "PATA" and "IATO- Indian Association of Tour Operaters", Brand Ambassador "Johnny Walker".
*Promod Haque, Venture Capitalist, Norwest Partners & named Forbes #1 VC for the Past Decade
* Arjun Malhotra, Founder CEO - Headstrong, Co-Founder HCL Group of Companies (Moved onto Doon School)
* Neeraj Bharadwaj, Partner, Apax Partners & Davos 2007 Young World Leader
* Deep Kalra, Founder & CEO, MakeMyTrip.com
* Sandeep Parekh, Executive Director, SEBI & 2008 Davos Young World Leader
* Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder CEO of Naukri.com [info edge]
* Arvind Khanna, COO Beekman Helix India
* Julius Packiam, composer of hit song on MTV and the theme of Kabul Express
* Nivedit Alva, Founder, Miditech & Winner, Green Oscars
* Denzil O'Connell, Anchor, Sr Producer, Headlines Today, Aajtak
* Sanam Puri, the lead vocalist of Indian band "Bandish"
* Dhruv Shringi, Founder and CEO, Yatra.com