Yadavindra Public School - Foundation

Foundation

The genesis of YPS, as a matter of fact, lies in the Aitchisan 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 our school.

This was the college not for all, but only for scions of princes and potentates, lords and aristocrats. His Highness the late Maharajadhiraj Yadavindra Singh of Patiala, from whose name this school derives its significance, was also a student of this college and later a member of its Board of Governors. But he was against restrictions in admission of boys to Aitchson College and had an idea of opening a public school at Patiala which would be open to all, irrespective of caste, creed or colour. However, this idea somehow could not be translated into reality.

August 1947 came, the time which witnessed the most bestial bloodshed of the era. The parents of the boys from Patiala and His Highness' own contemporaries appealed to His Highness to give shape to his old idea of starting a public school in Patiala. The generous, bountiful and benign ruler of patiala, who had always taken keen interest in the education of the youth of this country, promptly acceded to the request. On 11 October 1947 the late Rai Bahadur Dhani Ram Kapila, one of the old teachers of His Highness and the Headmaster of Aitchison College, was brought to Patiala from Ludhiana under military escort. On 12 October, a six member committee was appointed to explore the possibilities of founding the public school in Patiala.

On 30 October 1947 the Maharaja of Patiala, members of the Committee and departmental heads visited the Stadium and Exhibition Grounds to select the site for the school and for a temporary building for the boarding house. The Yadavindra Stadium was made available for classrooms and Bhupindra Kothi for boarding house. On 2 February 1948 the school started functioning with a meagre strength of 21 students and 9 teachers, with Rai Bahadur Dhani Ram Kapila as the Principal. The 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.

In 1950, we attended the Indian Public School's Conference and YPS was elected a member of the Conference. The same year Rai Bahadur Dhani Ram Kapila had a stroke of partial paralysis which eventually necessitated his having to relinquish charge of the school. On 18 September 1950 Lt. Col. Frank Von Goldstein took over and shouldered the responsibility. From a small beginning we continued to grow steadily; and now we had more boys on roll than we officially had room for, with still more clamouring for admission.

In 1954, the school was made co-educational; with the number of students still increasing, we had to beg, borrow or build more accommodation and increase the number of playing fields. The existing boarding house facilities were expanded and a third boarding house was opened in 1953. In 1957, His Highness the Maharaja of Patiala placed Lal Bagh at our disposal. For playing fields, we levelled the areas between the boarding houses and the stadium.

Renovated, furbished and embellished, the school now presents an attractive look. After facing difficulties with courage and confidence for 50 years, we have now established ourselves as one of the leading Public Schools in the country. Our school crest bears the motto- "VIDYA VINAY VEERTA"- Valour and Humility through Knowledge- and we endeavour to follow it earnestly. We pay a lot of attention to character building as also to sports activities as part of education. Over the last 50 years, we have gained a place for ourselves as one of the premier schooling institutions in our country.

So, like the proverbial grain of mustard we have grown, extended our roots and branches, so that now we are nursing and nurturing numerous boys and girls who will mature into the captains of society in the years to come. In 1973, when we celebrated our Silver Jubilee, we had 550 students on roll and 40 teachers on strength, and now, when the 'Golden' sun shines with all its brilliance, we are proud to have grown to a strength of over 1600 students and 100 teachers.

For us, each child is of great eminence, because: