Patiala’s first public school celebrated its 72nd foundation day
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Patiala
The origin of Yadavindra Public Schoo( YPS), as a matter of fact, lies in the Aitchison College, Lahore (the only Public School in Pre-Partition Punjab), which is closely related to, bears a contrast to, and has to play a great role in making of YPS.
After partition, the parents appealed to Maharaja Yadavindra Singh,erstwhile ruler of princely state of Patiala to give shape to his old idea of starting a public school in Patiala. Maharaja Yadavindra Singh had always taken keen interest in the education of the youths, promptly acceded to the request. On 11th October 1947 the late Rai Bahadur Dhani Ram Kapila, one of the old teachers of Maharaja Yadavindra Singh and the Headmaster of Aitchison College, was brought to Patiala from Ludhiana under military escort. On 12th October, a six member committee was appointed to explore the possibilities of founding the public school in Patiala.
The Yadavindra Stadium was made available for classrooms and Bhupindra Kothi for boarding house. On 2nd February 1948 the school started functioning with a meager strength of 21 students and 9 teachers, with Rai Bahadur Dhani Ram Kapila as the Principal.
Yadavindra Public School (YPS), considered among the top rung of Indian Public Schools, an English Medium Co-Educational Boarding-cum-Day school, was an improvement on Aitchison College in that there was no social restriction on the admission of students. Anyone without any prejudice to race, belief or faith could join the school.
Over the decades, YPS has grown to a student strength of 1600 and staff strength of 100. The school prepares students for the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (Class X) and the Indian School Certificate (Class XII) Examinations conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi which is successor to the Local Examinations Syndicate of the Cambridge University (UK).
Today Yadavindra Public School, Patiala celebrated its Foundation Day . All the students and teachers foregathered to celebrate this day with great zest and zeal. To mark the day, an annual fete and various games were organised by the staff and the students.
The celebrations kicked off with paying homage to the founder of the school, Maharajadhiraj Late Yadavindra Singh, in a religious ceremony, which was attended by all the staff members and the students.
The Fete area comprised of various stalls related to games, eatables and also the stalls related to the various hobbies in which students participate throughout the year. The energy and passion of the students was visible and school campus vibrated with enthusiasm.
The students also took part in various games organised at the Pagal Gymkhana. As the name suggests, it was full of fun and excited games like Three legged race, sack race, wheel barrow race and many enthralling and fun filled games. Later on, the winners were felicitated for their wonderful performance.
Customarily, a cricket match was played between the old students and the present batch of the school students. The school fete attracted a large crowd of people who enjoyed the grand festival of YPS. The Foundation Day is of great prominence for all Yadavindrians as it not only reflects the rich legacy of the school but also gives an opportunity to showcase the developments since the inception of this prestigious school.
