Netarhat Residential School is a school in Netarhat, India. The school has a record of producing toppers of the Bihar School Examination Board year after year. The students have dominated the Regional Mathematics Olympiad and National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). Students participate in inter-house and inter-set competitions and inter-school competitions. Santosh Kumar Singh is the present principal of Netarhat Residential School.
History
Netarhat Residential School was established on 15 November 1954, after the independence of India for the people of state of Bihar. It was a dream of the first chief minister of Bihar, Shri Krishna Singh and his deputy chief minister and finance minister Anugrah Narayan Sinha to establish a centre of excellence. The educationist Frederick Gordon Pearce, Jagadish Chandra Mather and Sachidanand Sinha played a vital role in making the plans for the school (or Netarhat Vidyalaya). Pearce has received kudos from Rajendra Prasad, then the president of India for his works.
Alumni
The alumni association is known as NOBA – Netarhat Old boys Association. There are chapters of NOBA, and the members meet regularly. On 12–13 November 2016, the Ranchi Chapter of NOBA organised the Global NOBA Meet at Mayuri Auditorium, CMPDI Kanke Road, Ranchi to discuss possibilities of giving back to the school and society.
Ambience
The school is situated far away from the busy life of town, on the plateau of Chhotanagpur, in the state of Jharkhand in India. The whole atmosphere is based on Gurukul – away from home, staying in Ashrams, simple and country-made dress based on the Gandhian philosophy. The school has produced citizens who are following the motto of school Atta Dipa Viharatha – be thy own light.
The guiding philosophy can be summarized by the following shloka in Sanskrit etched at the entrance of the main building of the school. ना त्वहम् कामये राज्यम् ना स्वर्गम् ना पुनर्भवम् | कामये दुःखतप्ताणाम् प्राणीणामार्त्ति नाशनाम् || (Oh Lord, I desire not kingdom nor the heavens nor even moksha. All I desire is to remove the suffering from the afflicted beings.)
The school song
The school song (हिंदी: विद्यालय गान) of Netarhat school
वन्दे! वन्दे हे सुन्दर मम सखा नेतरहाट सदा, वन्दे हे सुन्दर मम सखा नेतरहाट।
धन्य महाप्रांगण यह विंध्य प्रकृति क्रीड़ा का; वन मे वनपशुओं का विचरण स्वच्छन्द यहाँ; विहगों से कंठ मिला गाते नवगान सदा, वन्दे! वन्दे हे सुन्दर मम सखा नेतरहाट सदा।
उषा के साथ जगें,प्रतिदिन मंगलमय हो; कार्य पूर्ण प्रतिपल हो,ज्ञान वृद्धि जनहित हो; अंतरतर का मधुमय गाये संगीत सदा, वन्दे! वन्दे हे सुन्दर मम सखा नेतरहाट सदा।
साधक हैं समता के, सत्य न्याय करुणा के
हिन्द प्रेम संबल है, विश्व प्रेम साध्य बना
जन जन में ज्योति जगे, सत चित्त आनंद सदा
वन्दे! वन्दे हे सुन्दर मम सखा नेतरहाट सदा।
Location
Netarhat (23°28'48"N 84°16'11"E) is located at an elevation of 1250 meters and is renowned for spectacular sunrises, sunsets, waterfalls, and beautiful flora and fauna. The nearest major railway station and airport is Ranchi, which is 156 kilometers away. There are buses for Netarhat from Ranchi and Palamau.
Tourists from all over India and abroad visit Netarhat, whose name means Nature's Heart. However, the place may have got its name from 'Netur Haat' (which means a marketplace for bamboo in the local language). Apart from bamboo, the pine and sakhua trees add to the flora. The waterfalls Upper Ghaghri, Lower Ghaghri, Tahir, Boodhha Ghaagh and the Koel river are nearby.
Admission and curriculum
Admission to the school, which is run by the government of Jharkhand (since inception it was run by the government of Bihar until the separation of the states) is given on the basis of three stages of examination: descriptive and multiple-choice written tests, psychological tests and personal interview. Boys between 10 and 12 years of age who are living in the state can apply for admission on a prescribed form through Sub-divisional Education Officers. As many as 20,000+ students used to vie for 100 seats (60 till the year 1982) just before the separation of the state of Bihar. Seats are reserved for the students belonging to the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other classes as defined by the state government.