Secondary Schools: 19th to early 20th century

St. Joseph school- north block

St. Joseph south block

Saint Joseph High School and College: is a Catholic secondary school located at Asad Avenue, Mohammadpur, Dhaka. The school was originally founded by Brother Jude, an American Missionary member of Congregation of Holy Cross in 19 March 1954 at 16 Monir Hossain lane, Narinda in the old section of Dhaka The following year, a single story building was constructed at 32, Shah Shaheb Lane, Narinda for the school. To accommodate increasing enrollment a new complex was constructed in Mohammadpur and moved to its current location in 1965. The medium education of school was English and the institution had a General Cambridge Examination (GCE) based education structure. The first batch of boys from St. Joseph sat for the Cambridge Examinations in that year.

After 1971, the school was registered under Dhaka Board and medium of education changed to Bangali although it was recognised for emphasis in English. The last of the Cambridge groups took their examinations in 1973. In 1999, it became a college by opening higher secondary section. The institution currently has both English and Bengali medium based education for secondary level.

Saint Joseph one of the topmost secondary schools in the country, in terms of the quality of education and success records in public examinations, discipline, practice of leadership, sports and co-currilar activities. The students of Saint Joseph are known as "the Josephites". The alumni of the school had formed the Saint Joseph Old Boys Association (SJOBA), which continues to organize regular events and programs in and outside the school boundaries. It is for boys only and in 1999, it had about 900 students and 31 teachers, of whom 9 were women.

Entry gate- Dhaka Collegiate School

Dhaka Collegiate school- main building

Collegiate school- extension

Dhaka Collegiate School: It was the first government high school of undivided Bengal. The school was established at Dhaka in 1835 as an English Seminary school by the British government. Mr. Redge, an English missionary was the first headmaster. It began its journey in a hired house near Bahadur Shah Park (Victoria park) with 139 students, of which 8 were Muslims. Brajosundar Mitra (founder of Brahmo samaj), Nawab Abdul Ghani and Abdul Ali (founder of Moulvibazar) were the students of this school at its early stage. In the premises of this school, the foundation of Dhaka Intermediate College was laid down in 1841. The school building was rebuilt to accommodate the college in its first floor. The school was renamed Dhaka Collegiate School, and remained on the ground floor for quite a number of years. Khan Bahadur Nawab Abdul Latif, CIE worked as a teacher in this school at that time.

The school was separated from the college and put under control of the inspector of schools in 1908. Since then it got the status of a Zilla School, although it continued to be called Dhaka Collegiate School. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, Jagadish Chandra Basu and Buddhadeb Basu were associated with the school as student or teacher. The school maintained high academic records and boasted of securing top position 8 times out of 9 consecutive years. It had a competitive edge over other academic institutions in football, cricket, hockey and basketball. Famous Alumni are Nawab of Dhaka Khwaja Abdul Ghani, physicist Dr. Meghnad Saha, Bir Shrestho Matiur Rahman, linguist and martyred intellectual Munir Chowdhury, poet Buddhadeb Basu. At present, it is located at Sadarghat crossing, west of Bahadur Shah Park and south of Jagannath University College. This boys' school now offers courses in humanities, science, commerce and agriculture. In 1999, it had 1,850 students and 53 teachers, of whom 20 were female.

The oldest government school of the city on record (established in 1835), the Collegiate School is at present encircled by a tempo stand, makeshift shops and businesses and illegal offices of various political organizations.

Armanitola Govt. High school, Armanitola

Armanitola school field

Armanitola Government High School: This school was established in 1904 at Armanitola, Dhaka, as an experimental school for the only Teachers Training College of East Bengal at that time. The school started in a vast campus with red brick buildings constructed in the British style, in a location in front of the Tara Masjid (Star Mosque), a famous monument of Muslim architecture. Within a few years after its establishment, it drew attention of the city dwellers for its performance as an institute of excellence in education, sports and culture. The golden period of the school, according to ex-students, was between 1928 and 1958. During that period, Shamsuddin Ahmed, an assistant teacher gradually rose to the position of the headmaster.

During the War of Independence in 1971, a large number of students of this school became freedom fighters and many gave their lives to free the motherland. Lt. General (Retd.) Mir Shawkat Ali Bir Uttom (BU), Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Sultan Mahmud BU, Late Abul Manzur BU are just a few among the many ex-students who have been decorated with the Bir Uttom and Bir Pratik awards. Among the scholars, Dr. Mahfuzul Haque secured first position from Dhaka Board in the SSC examination of 1946, while Manjurul Karim came up with record breaking marks in the SSC examination of 1952. The school has also produced some of the top sportsmen of the country like Mahmudur Rahman Momin, Bashir Ahmed, Protap Shankar Hazra, Abdus Sadek, Jamal Haidar and Shabbir Yousuf.

The school is divided into four houses which compete against each other in different sports, debates and other extra curricular activities. The school admits only boys and as of 1999, it has been offering courses in humanities, science and business studies to a total of 1,357 students. The number of teachers was 54, of whom 12 were female.

St. Gregory School

St. Gregory School Hostel

St Gregory's School: Located at a place near Bahadur Shah Park (Victoria Park), Dhaka, was established in 1882 by Father Gregory de Groots, a Belgian Benedict priest. It was originally intended for Eurasian students as its first man-in-charge knew no other language than his native Flemish. It drew little public interest at the beginning. It was closed twice before 1889 and took a fresh start with standards 1 to 6 under Holy Cross Father Francis Boers as its new headmaster. The school reopened in the ground floor of St. Francis Girls' School. It was shifted to a new site in 1896, its enrollment started to increase and in 1898, it had about a 100 students including 6 Bengali boys and 2 Bengali girls.

The school conducted education and examinations in European style until 1923, when it sought and received permission to come under Board Examination leading to its recognition in 1924. The school ran as a co-education until 1912, when the girls joined St Francis Xavier Girls High School. Ever since it is a boys' school. After creation of Pakistan in 1947, the school started teaching in English medium, and also ran Bengali medium sections. Notre Dame College began here as St. Gregory's College.

The school earned reputation for excellent results of its students in Matriculation (S. S. C.) examinations. It demonstrated well in sports, science exhibitions, cultural meets and the scout movement, for which its alumni take pride in being Gregorian. In 1999, it had 1,540 students studying in classes I to X. That year it had 43 teachers, of whom 11 were women. The school can boast of the many eminent personalities who are in the list of its alumni. To name a few, Dr. Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate Economist), Tajuddin Ahmed (first prime minister of Bangladesh), Dr. Kamal Hossain (former law and justice minister of Bangladesh), and Dr. Osman Farooq (education minister of Bangladesh, 2001- )

(Click for more pics of 125 year's celebration of St.Gregory's School)

Pogose School- main building

Pogose School - extension block

Pogose school students passing a leisurely day as teachers enforce strike for nationalization of school

Pogose School: This school was established in Dhaka in 1848, as the first private school of the country by N P Pogose, an Armenian merchant and Zamindar. It was at first housed in the ground floor of Pogose's residence and was known as Pogose Anglo-Vernacular School. In 1855, it was moved to a rented house owned by J C Panioty of Armanitola. Five years later, it was moved to a two-storied building at Sadarghat, from where it was finally shifted to its present location at Chittaranjan Avenue. In 1867, the school had 500 boys on its roll and became the largest school in Bengal. The school was managed as a proprietary institution and in 1871, about a year after the death of Pogose, it was taken over by Mohini Mohan Das, a banker and zamindar. After the death of Das in 1896, his estate kept the school up .

The school went through a difficult time during the Second World War. The school was in a state of near collapse during the 50s. Many famous people were once students of Pogose School. The list includes persons like Sir K.G. Gupta ICS (first Indian Privy Councilor), Dr. P.K. Roy (the first Indian Principal of Dhaka College and later, Professor of Calcutta Presidency College), Dr. Aghornath Chatterjee (first Indian D Sc, father of Sarojini Naidu), Ataur Rahman Khan (Chief Minister of East Pakistan, and also Prime Minister, Bangladesh), Zahirul Haque (Director of Banking Control, Karachi), and Babu Mathuramohan Chakraborty (founder, Sakti Ausadhalaya, a pioneer in manufacturing Ayurvedic medicine).

In the mid-1980s, the school started gradually falling behind in competition with the rise of new government and private schools. In 1999, it offered courses in humanities, business studies and science and it had 38 teachers (12 women) and 2,030 students, of whom 438 were girls.

Muslim Govt High school

Muslim Govt High School: Dhaka Madrasah was established in 1874, in a location east of Thomas Anglican Church and north of Bahadur Shah Park (Victoria park) with the help of Mohsin fund. As part of modernization scheme of the Madrasah, an Anglo Persian Department was opened in the Madrasah in 1906. The Anglo Persian Dept. was renamed in 1916 as the 'Government Muslim High School' and began operating in a 'Dak bungalow' in the compound of Dhaka Collegiate School. In 1945, the school was shifted to its present location south east of Bahadur Shah Park.

The medium of education from class VI and above was English. Islamic dress code was made compulsory both for teachers and students, and it was later relaxed. The school maintained a good library and archive from which many things about its past could be known. Kazi Jahirul Haque of Kazibari, Ashek lane, became Headmaster of the school in 1916. The school had 11 teachers, one drawing teacher and one drillmaster at that time. Eminent writer Kazi Emdadul Haque was a teacher. In 1906-7, the number of students was 265. The school’s academic performance came to prominence in the 30’s and 40’s. Khan Bahadur Abdul Hakim (ex-Director of education), Prof. Abdur Razzak (national professor) and Justice B.A. Siddiky, Major General Khawaja Wasiuddin, Hafizuddin Ahmed (ex-IG), Educationist Abdulla al- Muti Sharfuddin were students of this school. The number of students at present is 500. The old red coloured building has been demolished and a new building constructed.

Nabakumar Institute, Bakshibazar

Nabakumar Institute - playfield

Nabakumar Institute: This institution was established in 1916 By Zamindar Nabakumar at Bakhsi Bazar area, south of present Badrunessa Girls' College and the Dhaka Alia Madrasah. Though named an institute, it was a school until 1973, when it opened a college branch. In the early 50’s the school produced many players at national level in football and athletics and earned plaudit in various sport tournaments.

(Shaheed) Matiur Rahman, a recognized name in the history of national movement of 1960s, was a student of Nabakumar Institute. In 2001, Nabakumar Institute had about 2,000 students while the college had about 400. The school and the college together had sixty-one teachers, forty of whom were teaching in the school and the remaining in the college. The Institute accommodates its academic and administrative facilities in two buildings, one four storied and the other six storied.

West End High School - old building

Academic block extension

Front block - extension

West End High School: Established in the 1930’s, the secondary school is located in the western fringe of Dhaka at Lalbagh, south of Azimpur Government Colony. This school building was expanded in 1939 and the library was established with the help of money donated by Bishnu Charan Das. The school attained excellent academic results during 60’s and 70’s. To accommodate the rush of admission, the school building expanded further and new blocks were constructed. The school has 2200 student of which 397 are female. Number of teachers are 152, of which 6 are female.