It is evident that human have created history with the desire
of achieving more. Territorial expansions by waging war between kingdoms are something
which is not unheard of. Similar condition was with the kingdom of Nepal, Bhutan,
Sikkim and India with British Rulers gaining their autonomy over all of these
kingdoms. In 1788 Nepal with the Gorkha rulers made invasion upon Sikkim, consequently
they took Limbuana and the former capital Rabdentse in their possession. The
Gurkha ruler returned some parts of the occupied areas of Sikkim to the British
Rulers through the Treaty of Sugauli in 1815. But the British rulers
retained most of the plain areas themselves and returned some of the hill areas
of Sikkim and thus Sikkim recovered some of its lost areas occupied by the
Gorkhas through the Treaty of Titalia in 1817. However, Sikkim came
under British protectorate through British- Sikkim Tumlong Treaty of 1861.
They also annexed Darjeeling areas of Sikkim in 1835 in the pretext of Health
Sanitation unconditionally. The British ruler established Political Office in
Sikkim in 1887-88 and interference in the Sikkim administration and in other aspects.
Thus with the British gaining its power in Indian soil, many
changes took place in socio- economic sphere of the country. Their thirst for
expansion of colony and trade soon darted towards Tibet [China]. Sikkim being
an en- route to Tibet, the British made explicit inroads toward Sikkim.
Simultaneously, numerous missionaries from Europe like, The American Mission,
The Dutach and Danes Mission ventured on the Indian soil with two- fold
intention of bringing educational reform and the other being propagation of Christianity.
The Scottish Mission made their first advent when Rev. John Anderson arrived in
Madras in 1837. He was the first Scottish Presbyterian missionary. Of many
educational institutes that were established by the missionaries in different
parts of the country, few were also established in Darjeeling and Kalimpong
The church of Scotland
Mission had visited Sikkim form Kalimpong several times in 1880s, but was
unable to obtain permission from a missionary to reside there. Reverend
MacFarlane sought help from the local Lepcha community (Christian converts) to
spread the gospel among their tribesmen settled in Sikkim. However, due to the
ongoing political turmoil in the state and people tempted with their initial
taste of democracy, even the chogyal found it difficult to overpower the
prevailing political commotion. Thus, describing the main activities of missionaries
as evangelistic, educational vocational, and medicinal, many dispensaries and
schools were opened at Rhenock, Seriyong and Dentam. It is said that there were
11 dispensaries in Sikkim (McKay, 2004:40:2 25-48)
Consequently, along
with the establishment of medical dispensary, the Scottish Mission, planted the
sapling of Rhenock Sr. Sec. School, at Rhenock Bazar in the form of a Primary
School, In the year 1879. But, owing to its confined land area, the local
community decided to shift it to a more spacious area. As fortune would favour,
the then social worker and a renowned senior officer (Mr. Chhetal Tashi KAZI
also known as Rhenock Kazi) who worked under the Royal Govt. of Sikkim
consented to donate a plot of his land for establishing a school. Thus, the
school was shifted to the area where at present the school stands today.
The school was taken over by the Govt. of Sikkim on 1st
August 1957 where Mr. S.T. Karthak was entrusted upon the duty of
Headmastership of the newly shifted primary school. Sooner, the school was
upgraded to Junior High School with Mr. J.S. Lall Pradhan as the new headmaster
of the school. With the increasing population in the local places and lack of
schools, the students taking admission in the school increased, which led to a
public demand for upgradation of the school to Secondary School. In the year
1978 Mr. R.M. Saha became the Head of the newly upgraded Secondary School.
Further, under the principalship of Miss Lachi Pradhan, the school became a
Senior Secondary School in the year 1991. The school is affiliated to Central
Board of Secondary Education.
With the squall of time, the school has now become one of the
major education imparting institutes in the entire constituency, Apart from the
mainstream courses (Humanites, Science and Commerce), vocation courses like
Information Technology and Travel &Tourism are also offered. These courses
are indeed, widely emerging as the most career oriented programmes in the
present scenario. The school also boasts of its wide area and serene atmosphere
which facilitates the students to learn in a conducive environment.
Refrence:
1.
History,
Culture and Customs of Sikkim by J.R. Subba
2.
Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
3.
School
Head chronological board of School
1 comment:
Thank you so much for writing the history of the first formal school of Sikkim.
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