St. Xavier's Collegiate School

St. Xavier's Collegiate School (informally SXCS) is a private Catholic primary and secondary school for boys, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The school was founded in 1860 by the Jesuits under the supervision of Fr. Henri Depelchin S.J., and it is named after St. Francis Xavier, a 16th-century Jesuit missionary to India. The school caters to approximately 2,300 students.

St. Xavier's Collegiate School
Location
30 Mother Teresa Sarani Kolkata , West Bengal India
Coordinates	22°32′54″N 88°21′21″E / 22.54837°N 88.35596°E / 22.54837; 88.35596
Information
Type	Private school Catholic school
Motto	Latin: Nihil Ultra (Nothing Beyond)
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Denomination	Jesuits
Patron saint(s)	Francis Xavier
Established	16 January 1860; 164 years ago (1860-01-16)
School board	Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (year 10) Indian School Certificate (year 12)
Session	April–March
Rector	Jeyaraj Veluswamy
Principal	M. Thamacin Arulappan
Headmaster	Probal Gomes
Faculty	83
Gender	Boys
Number of students	2,300
Classes	Kg-12
Average class size	40
Language	English
Campus	Urban
Colour(s)	Blue and white
Nickname	Xaverian; SXCS
Yearbook	The Xaverian
Annual tuition	≈₹1,00,900^[1]
Affiliation	Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations
Website	www.sxcs.edu.in

History

One of the elite institutes of India, St Xavier's Collegiate school was founded in 1860 by the Society of Jesus, an all-male Catholic religious order. The school is named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Jesuit saint. The founder of the school is Fr. Henri Depelchin, S.J.,^[2] who oversaw most of the groundwork during the early years.^[3]

San Souci theatre

The San Souci theatre at 30 Park Street (now Mother Teresa Sarani), Kolkata-700016, was burned to the ground in 1843. The property was purchased by Jesuits from Belgium and became the present campus.^[3]

Foundation years

The motto, Latin: Nihil ultra (translated as "nothing beyond"), along with the crest of the college date to the rectorship of Fr. O'Neill, S.J., 1904–1913.^[4]

The present imposing five-storied building was built from 1934 to 1940 at a cost of 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.^[2][5] Expansion of the school has been a long effort, with a campus slated for Salt Lake City, Kolkata and a second boys' hostel not far from the existing one.

A commemorative stamp was issued by the Indian Post Office on 12 April 1985 depicting the campus and in its commentary recognising the school's contribution to society.^[2] In 2019, the foundation stone was laid for a new kindergarten section.

Programs

Students have excelled on the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education exam.^[6] In 2015, a student secured the highest marks in the ICSE examination while in 2017 a student scored the highest marks, in the Indian School Certificate examination.^[7][8] In 2013 Xavier was ranked by Digital Learning as the top school in West Bengal.^[9]

The school is divided into houses namely Berchmans, Britto, Gonzaga and Loyola, all trained in synchronized marching.^[10] The tertiary section extended to coeducational Honors Arts and Science programs and Teacher Training while still on the high school campus.^[2]

In 2011 Xavier was judged the best eco-initiative school in Kolkata City for its preparation of compost manure for organic gardening.^[11] The school won a football tournament organized to promote outdoor exercise (so that youth do not become addicted to staying indoors with their computers).^[12] The traveling cricket team in 2016 secured the first place in a tournament in Leicester, England.^[13] In September 2016 the school hosted an exhibition of about 90 paintings of Mother Teresa to commemorate her canonization that month.

Steps toward university

St Xavier's is expanding into tertiary education in collaboration with other groups, as with the Jesuit Xavier School of Management in Jamshedpur, on a new 17-acre campus in Rajarhat near New Town, Kolkata. A research centre with post-graduate courses is also planned. While schools of engineering and medicine are being considered, plans are progressing slowly to assure that fees will remain low and a wide range of students will be able to afford the education.^[14]

Notable alumni

• Rabindranath Tagore, first Asian Nobel Laureate^{[15][16][17][18][19][20]}
• Jagadish Chandra Bose, biologist, physicist, biophysicist, botanist, archaeologist and Fellow of the Royal Society^{[21][22][2][23]}
• Norman Pritchard, first Asian-born athlete to win an Olympic medal^{[24][25][26][20]}
• Jyoti Basu, longest-serving Chief Minister of West Bengal (1977-2000))^{[27][28][29][20]}
• Siddhartha Shankar Ray, former Chief Minister of West Bengal^[28][18][20]
• Sanjiv Goenka, industrialist ^[30][31][20]
• Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament^[32][33][17]
• Raj Kapoor, noted Bollywood actor^{[34][35][36][20]}
• General Shankar Roy Chowdhury, former Chief of Army Staff in the Indian Army and former Member of Parliament^[20]
• Kaushik Basu, former Chief Economist of the World Bank (2012-2016)^{[37][38][39][23]}
• Sanjeev Sanyal, Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India^[40][41][23]
• Sourav Ganguly, former captain of the Indian cricket team and 39th President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India^[42][43][23]
• Dipankar Gupta, former Solicitor General of India.^[44][45]
• P. Lal, writer^[46][23]
• Neil O'Brien, quizmaster and former Member of Parliament^[47][23]
• Derek O'Brien, quizmaster and Member of Parliament ^[48][49][23]

See also

• List of Jesuit schools
• List of schools in West Bengal

References

1. "Payment of School Fees". St. Xavier's Collegiate School.
2. indianpost.com Commemorative stamp, retrieved on 4 February 2008
3. India, St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Kolkata. "St. Xavier's Collegiate School for Boys Kolkata Calcutta India". www.sxcs.edu.in. Retrieved 22 August 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
4. "St. Xavier's College (Autonomous), Kolkata". www.sxccal.edu. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
5. sxccal.edu history 19 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 6 February 2008
6. "Kolkata's Saugata Chowdhury tops ICSE with 99.20% | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dna. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
7. "Bengaluru boy tops ICSE exam with 99.4%". SahilOnline | Reflection of the Truth. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
8. "ISC results 2017". 29 May 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
9. "Top Schools in West Bengal". digitallearning.eletsonline.com. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
10. sxcseduvideo (21 January 2011), St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Kolkata - Sports Day 2010, archived from the original on 19 December 2021, retrieved 22 August 2017
11. "Organic gardening: St Xavier's Collegiate School, Kolkata leads the way | Ecology and Jesuits in Communication". www.ecojesuit.com. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
12. "Kolkata students shine in inter-school football tournament". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
13. "St Xaviers win Goodwill Cricket Tournament 2016". Cricket World. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
14. "St Xavier's plans new school, newer courses". The Indian Express. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
15. "St Xavier's celebrates birth anniv of Tagore, an alumnus". The Times of India. 10 May 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
16. "St Xavier's College celebrates Rabindranath Tagore's birth anniversary". The Telegraph.
17. "Distinguished Alumni | Alumnorum Societas". alsoc.in. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
18. "Tagore's school to celebrate his 150th birth anniversary". The Hindu. 6 May 2010. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
19. "Tagore flunked school, St Xavier's School reveals". The Times of India. 8 May 2009. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
20. "Distinguished Alumni | Alumnorum Societas". alsoc.in. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
21. Wan, Meher (20 March 2023). The Scientific Sufi: The Life and Times of Jagadish Chandra Bose. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5492-967-0.
22. Gupta, Monoranjon (1970). Jagadishchandra Bose: A Biography. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
23. "Distinguished Alumni | Alumnorum Societas". alsoc.in. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
24. SNS (31 July 2018). "The Kolkata connection of Gilbert Norman Pritchard and his family". The Statesman. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
25. "Off the cuff « Harmony Magazine". Retrieved 26 April 2024.
26. "The search for India's first Olympic medallist". 17 July 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
27. "Jyoti Basu | Indian Communist Leader & Chief Minister of West Bengal | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
28. "Old boys". The Telegraph Online.
29. "Jyoti Basu: The Marxist who almost became India's PM". The Hindu. 17 January 2010. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
30. "RPSG | Leadership". www.rpsg.in. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
31. Correspondent, D. C. (15 September 2019). "A builder of businesses". www.deccanchronicle.com. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
32. Bureau, ABP News (2 September 2023). "'Inconveniently Good At Taking Exams': Shashi Tharoor Shares His St Xavier's Calcutta Marksheet". news.abplive.com. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
33. "Dr. Shashi Tharoor's official website". shashitharoor.in. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
34. "Celebrating Raj Kapoor: 18 facts about 'the greatest showman' of Hindi cinema". India Today. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
35. Nanda, Ritu; Kapūra, Rāja (2002). Raj Kapoor Speaks. Penguin Books India. ISBN 978-0-670-04952-3.
36. Nanda, Ritu (14 December 2017). Raj Kapoor: The One and Only Showman. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-93-5277-041-0.
37. "Look back in wonder - Xaverians meet to recollect, plan ahead & shake a leg". The Telegraph Online.
38. Basu, Kaushik (29 February 2024). "In a new book, economist Kaushik Basu recalls his struggle with mental health as a college student". Scroll.in. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
39. "CURRICULUM VITAE: KAUSHIK BASU" (PDF). Brookings.
40. "Talk by Sanjeev Sanyal on Oct 25 | IIM Bangalore". www.iimb.ac.in. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
41. "Sanjeev Sanyal appointed as Principal Economic Adviser: All you need to know about him". DNA India. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
42. "Sourav Ganguly says he will remember Basu for two things". Hindustan Times. 18 January 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
43. "Global Xaverian Award for Sourav Ganguly". The Telegraph.
44. "BIO-DATA OF MR. DIPANKAR P. GUPTA" (PDF). Bar Association of India.
45. "Distinguished Alumni | Alumnorum Societas". alsoc.in. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
46. Rosalie Murphy, Contemporary poets of the English language (St. James Press, 1970)
47. Datta, Devangshu (26 June 2016). "Quiz Master Neil O'Brien (1934-2016) – and a time when Calcutta was still casually multicultural". Scroll.in. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
48. "Personal agenda: Quizmaster Derek O'Brien". Hindustan Times. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
49. "Shri Derek O'Brien". India.gov.in: National Portal of India.

External links

• Official website