Tyndale Biscoe School
Tyndale Biscoe School is a school in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.[1] The school was founded in 1880 CE and is one of the oldest schools in Jammu and Kashmir. The school was started by Christian missionaries and was named after Canon Cecil Tyndale-Biscoe (1863–1949).[2] It still has affiliations with the Church Mission Society. Parvez Samuel Koul is the principal.
Tyndale Biscoe School (TBS) | |
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Tyndale Biscoe School Motto | |
Location | |
Information | |
Former name | Cristian Mission School Hadow Public School |
Type | Missionary |
Motto | "In All Things Be Men" |
Established | 1880 |
Founder | Rev. J.H Knowles |
Sister school | The Mallinson Girls School, Lalchowk
The Kashmir Valley School, Humhama Tynadale Biscoe & Mallinson School, Tangmarg |
Educational authority | Tyndale Biscoe and Mallinson Society, Srinagar Diocese of Amritsar, Church of North India (CNI) |
Director | Parvez Samuel Koul |
Principal | Parvez Samuel Koul |
Gender | Boys only |
Medium of language | English |
Campus | Urban |
Area | 84 kanals {including the Mallinson School} |
Houses | Kolahoi (Red)
Harmukh (Yellow) Tatakuti (Blue) Mahadev (Green) |
Sports | Football, cricket, hockey, Water polo, Swimming, Volleyball etc. |
Affiliation | Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education |
Website | https://tbmes.org/TBS/home.aspx |
School organisation
Houses
The school is divided into four houses, named after mountain peaks in the Kashmir Valley.
- Kolohai - Red
- Harmukh - Yellow
- Tatakuti - Blue
- Mahadev - Green
Competitions between these houses are held. Points for different activities are thus allotted to the houses. The house scoring the most points at the end of the session is awarded the "Champion House Trophy".
Departments
The school has five departments. The activities of the departments are looked over by well experienced Head Of Departments.
Department | Classes |
---|---|
Lower Primary Department. | Nursery to II |
Junior Department | III to V |
Middle Department | VI to VIII |
Senior Department | IX and X |
Higher Secondary (Science Stream only) | XI and XII |
Activities
Tyndale Biscoe School is known for its extra-curricular activities, especially swimming, skiing, mountain climbing, camping and regatta.[3] School placed emphasis on physical activities including mountaineering, tug-of-war, trekking, boxing, boating, football, cricket, and swimming stimulating sense of courage, masculinity and physical fitness.[4]
When football was introduced in the Valley by Missionary School, there was resistance initially. Students felt the cow leather was holy and touching the ball, made out of it, was blasphemous. Instead they played football with a wooden clog (known as Khraav in Kashmiri) in their feet. Similarly, when boating was introduced in Mission School students did not like boating because, in Kashmiri society, boatmen weren't consider respectable members of the society. But later it was adopted and the Mission School boys became efficient paddlers and rowers.[5]
History
Rev. J.H. Knowles, in 1880, laid the foundation of the C.M.S. (Church Mission Society) School on the hospital premises (Modern Chest Disease Hospital, Drugjan) in Srinagar. The school was started with 5 pupils. In 1883, the number of boys in the school increased to 30.[6]
It was in 1890 that the Government permitted the C.M.S. to shift the school to downtown, and it was moved from the hospital premises (Drugjan) to a large house and compound on the river bank in the middle of the city at FatehKadal. As a result of this, the number of students increased to about 200 in 1890. Canon C.E. Tyndale-Biscoe joined the school in 1891, there were 250 pupils on the school roll. The primary school grew into a middle school and eventually into a high school. The high school was designated the Hadow Memorial School after the name of its honorary treasurer for 40 years. Eventually, five other mission schools were set up, one each in different parts of the capital city and one in Anantnag.[6]
Notable alumni
- Imran Raza Ansari - (born 1972) Politician and Religious Scholar
- Farooq Abdullah - (born 1937) politician and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Agha Shaukat Ali - (1920-2013) Kashmiri Civil Servant turned Pakistani Politician after partition.
- Masarat Alam Bhat - (born 1971) Kashmiri separatist leader as of 2018 General Secretary of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference[7]
- Thupstan Chhewang (born 1947) is an Indian politician
- Durga Prasad Dhar - (1918–1975) prominent Kashmiri politician and an Indian diplomat.
- P. N. Dhar (1919–2012) was an economist and the head of Indira Gandhi's secretariat.
- Khurshid Drabu CBE (1946 – 2018) was an English judge, law lecturer and Muslim community leader. He was the first Muslim to be a judge in Britain.
- Shah Faesal - (born 1983) former IAS civil servant, social activist, politician.[8]
- Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad - (1907–1972) politician and former Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
- Mohammad Shafi Qureshi (1929 – 2016) an advocate, Indian politician and statesman from Kashmir and the founder of the Congress Party in Jammu and Kashmir.
- Ashfaq Majeed Wani - (1966 - 1990) first Commander-in-Chief of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front.[9]
Controversies
Rajan Sandhu, former Estates Supervisor of Tyndale-Biscoe and Mallinson society, along with member of Saints Paul Church, Isaac Samuel, approached the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Srinagar to claim that chairman of joint management committee, Bishop of diocese of Amritsar, Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy, Principal and Director, Tyndale Biscoe and Mallinson School, Parvez Samuel Koul, Headmistress of Mallinson School and The Kashmir Valley school, Joyce Kaul, Administrator Tyndale Biscoe and Mallinson school, Rahul rex Kaul, Chief Accounts officer of Tyndale Biscoe and Mallinson School, and Accounts and estates officer, Vijendara Dhanvantri were in league with each other in resorting to illegal and corrupt practices which was bringing harm to the school and that they “withdrew unaudited crores of rupees by way of labeling the sums as basic salary, cost of living, honorarium, travel allowance, medical expenses overtime etc”. Further, they claimed that the assets of the society have been converted into personal assets.“The illegal conversion of society assets into personal assets needs a thorough investigation. As in case of Tyndale Biscoe and Mallinson school Tangmarg, spread across an area of 19 Kanals of land, 12 kanals have been purchased in the name of Parvez Koul and seven Kanals in the name of Joyce Kaul, using the money of the society as reflected in the book accounts,” the litigation states.[10][11]
A controversy arose over the conversion of local youths to Christianity in the summer of 2011 after they were allegedly lured by the pastor M C Khanna of All India Saints Church in Srinagar. The video clips were distributed across the valley, showing conversion of local youth to Christianity, which made the Grand Mufti of Kashmir, Mufti Bashir-ud-Din, to summon the pastor for explanation. MC Khanna was a regular orator in the assemblies of Tynadale Biscoe School. The Deputy Mufti Nasir directed Punjabi M C Khanna to leave the valley for his involvement in the conversions in the valley. In the same statement the Deputy said “the case against the principal of Tyndale Biscoe School Parvez Sameul Koul is under investigation and judgment will be announced in due course of time”.[12] However, no announcement was ever made. Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested Pastor CM Khanna on 19 November 2011 after charges under Sections 153-A and 295-A of the Ranbir penal code were registered against him.[13][14] But the criticism of missionary schools has not gone down well with Separatist Hurriyat Leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. 'They (Christians) are part and parcel of our society and it is our duty to protect them. No Kashmiri can ignore the contribution of their schools in the Valley's education system,' he pointed out. Criticising the government-owned and controlled Wakf Board, he said: 'How many institutions have they (Waqf Board) established?'.[15]
References
- Schools in Srinagar
- "Biscoe [post Tyndale-Biscoe], Cecil Earle (BSCW882CE)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- https://www.tribuneindia.com/mobi/news/jammu-kashmir/tyndale-biscoe-school-holds-annual-dal-cross/455510.html. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - https://www.kashmir-issue.com/biscoe.html. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - http://autarmota.blogspot.com/2016/05/an-old-photograph-of-mission-school.html?m=1. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - https://tbmes.org/Pages?page=History. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - "Being Masrat Alam - includes Nazir Leharwal's Famous Quote 'Are you Ishfaq ?'".
- Fazili, Ehsan (9 May 2010). "The Doctor and a Civil Servant". The Tribune. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- "Yasin Malik remembers Nadeem Khateeb on his anniversary". GreaterKashmir. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- https://www.news18.com/news/india/kashmirs-oldest-missionary-school-faces-charges-of-corruption-and-embezzlement-2081339.html. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - https://thekashmirpress.com/2019/03/28/probe-ordered-against-tyndale-biscoe-mallinson-school-principals-other-officials-on-bungling-charges/. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - "Grand Mufti Summons Priest".
- "Pastor Arrested".
- "Pastor Admits Conversion".
- "Syed Ali Shah Geelani bats for pastors on Jammu and Kashmir conversions".
External links
- Tyndale Biscoe School on TBMES parent website