Tyndale Biscoe School is a school in the Sheikh Bagh neighbourhood, in the Lal Chowk area of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.[1] The school was founded in 1880 CE and is one of the oldest schools in Jammu and Kashmir, the oldest being S.P school which was founded in 1874 CE.[2] The school was started by Christian missionaries and was named after Canon Cecil Tyndale-Biscoe (1863–1949).[3] It still has affiliations with the Church Mission Society. The first principal was Reverend J.H.Knowles.

Tyndale Biscoe School (TBS)
Tyndale Biscoe School Motto
Location
Map

India
Coordinates34°04′17″N 74°48′44″E / 34.071402°N 74.812234°E / 34.071402; 74.812234
Information
Former nameChristian Mission School; Hadow Public School
TypeMissionary
MottoIn All Things Be Men
Established1880; 144 years ago (1880)
FounderRev. J.H Knowles
Sister school
Educational authorityTyndale Biscoe and Mallinson Society, Srinagar, Diocese of Amritsar, Church of North India (CNI)
DirectorParvez Samuel Kaul
PrincipalMabel Youzon
Head of schoolParvez Samuel Kaul
GenderBoys only
LanguageEnglish
CampusUrban
Area84 kanals (including the Mallinson Girls School)
Houses
  •   Kolahoi
  •   Harmukh
  •   Tatakuti
  •   Mahadev
SportsFootball, basketball, cricket, hockey, water polo, swimming, volleyball, badminton, etc.
NicknameBiscoits, Biscoe Boys
AffiliationJammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education
Websitetbmes.org/TBS/home.aspx

Departments edit

The school has five 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 edit

Tyndale Biscoe School is known for its extra-curricular activities, especially swimming, skiing, mountain climbing, camping and regatta.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6]

 
Regatta organised by Tyndale Biscoe School in May 1948
 
India's first Prime Minister visited Regatta held by Tyndale Biscoe School in May 1948 during his Kashmir Visit

History edit

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.[7]

In 1890, 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 Fateh Kadal.[8] 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.[7]

Notable alumni edit

Financial controversy edit

Rajan Sandhu, former Estates Supervisor of Tyndale-Biscoe and Mallinson society, along with member of St.Paul's Church,[12] Amritsar, 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.[13][14]

References edit

  1. ^ "Schools in Srinagar | Ekikrat.in". ekikrat.in.
  2. ^ Naqash, Rayan. "'Don't even think about it': Alumni of one of Kashmir's oldest schools criticise call for relocation". Scroll.in. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Biscoe [post Tyndale-Biscoe], Cecil Earle (BSCW882CE)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  4. ^ Service, Tribune News. "Tyndale Biscoe School holds annual 'Dal cross'". Tribuneindia News Service.
  5. ^ "Kashmir". www.kashmir-issue.com.
  6. ^ "AN OLD PHOTOGRAPH OF MISSION SCHOOL FATEH KADAL , SRINAGAR KASHMIR".
  7. ^ a b "Tyndale-Biscoe and Mallinson Schools Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir". tbmes.org.
  8. ^ "Historic schools of Kashmir". Rising Kashmir. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Being Masrat Alam – includes Nazir Leharwal's Famous Quote 'Are you Ishfaq ?'".
  10. ^ Fazili, Ehsan (9 May 2010). "The Doctor and a Civil Servant". The Tribune. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  11. ^ "Yasin Malik remembers Nadeem Khateeb on his anniversary". GreaterKashmir. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  12. ^ "St.Paul Church Amritsar". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  13. ^ "Kashmir's Oldest Missionary School Faces Charges of Corruption and Embezzlement". News18. 28 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Probe ordered against Tyndale Biscoe, Mallinson School Principals, other officials, on bungling charges". 28 March 2019.

External links edit