The Rajkumar College (RKC), one of the oldest schools founded by royal families of Kathiavad, GJ

The Rajkumar college, Rajkot, GJ. .gujarattourism.com


India has lots of pretty old schools  established in the early 19th century CE. With exceptions most of them  were founded by the Christian missionaries  to impart education to the European community and also to the local people. They engaged in educational activities in the midst of their evangelical work in the nook and corner of India.  There were many schools established by the rich Indians  to cover the native of various communities. Among them there were some  schools founded by the princely families to exclusively educate their children  so that they could get better education and be trained to run the princely states. One of the reputed schools is Rajkumar college of Rajkot, Gujarat.


Rajkot location map. .mapsofindia.com


The Rajkumar College ( often referred to as  RKC) in Rajkot, Gujarat,  one of the oldest K-12 institutions in India  was  established in 1868 by 27 erstwhile princely states of Saurashtra (Kathiawad) for imparting education to  children from their royal families.  It was  granted permission  ''under the royal decree of the British Crown to impart a wholesome and complete finishing education to the young princes of Kathiwar to enable them to rule their provinces better and be groomed into the ideal noble gentlemen.'' Post independence ‘RKC’ accepts students aged from 5 to 18 from all walks of life.

Rajkumar college, Rajkot, GJ. rkcrajkot.com

Rajkumar college, CBSC residential school.kcrajkot.com

 

Set on a  huge land comprising  26-acre (105,000 m²) campus in the prime area of Rajkot, the building was  designed by Colonel Keatinge and was formally opened by the Governor of Bombay Presidency, H. B. Sir Seymour Fitzgerald  in 1870.  It is mentioned that  the size of campus has been reduced to 11 acres presently and it  includes besides college buildings, housing sporting facilities,  offices, etc. 


Rajkumar college, Rajkot, GJ.kcrajkot.com


The college became a public school  in 1938, thanks to the efforts made by  founding members.  The college motto is Yasya Bhuddhi, Balam Tasya  meaning "Power is where there is knowledge". Another plus is it  is a founding member of the Indian Public Schools Conference and a member of the Round Square conference of schools, a worldwide association of more than 60 schools. The latter  encourages  students to travel between schools and tour the country or do community service, thus giving them wide exposure outside the realm of education. 


It was in 2001 the college,  for the first time, encouraged co-education opening  its doors  wide open  for aspiring  girls. Earlier, it had been a boys'  domain for more than 100 years. The school had around  50 girls initially  with  boarding facilities. With the expansion of school and its reputation on the increase  more girls showed  interest in joining RKC, the Rajkumar College for Girls, a secondary school was opened  on 24 March 2011 by Kamla Beniwal, Governor of Gujarat. 

The Rajkumar College Administration  runs what is called  ''Priyalok Villas'', a pre-school program for the kids; it in 1909 functioned in Hyde sanatorium and now it has a separate building.  The advantage is it has  access to all the facilities  available at the  Rajkumar College.


This college gives importance to sports and their teams actively participate in inter public school competitions  at district/ /state/national level events. Likewise students are encouraged to play an active role in  various cultural activities, public speaking /recitation/debates, etc. Besides improving their academic potential, the school focuses on  their creativity, interpersonal relationship and personality development through service. 


Once the students successfully passed out  the portals of the school, they are well trained to take on further challenges at the college level, this way the school prepares  them at the  early stage itself to confront  problems in public life, personal life and in the work-space.

Tit-bits:


The 27 members (hailing from royal families)  of  the prestigious college recently ( 3rd week of Sept. 2021) conducted an election to the Board of Trustees . Surprisingly, it was an inconclusive one as the  polling resulted in tie on five out of seven seats on Sunday with the election officer saying that his office would approach the Gujarat High Court for further directions.


Polling for the four seats of ‘A’ Group comprising 11 large erstwhile princely states in Saurashtra as well as to the three seats of ‘B’ Group comprising 10 smaller erstwhile princely states was conducted at RKC campus from 9 am to 5 pm.

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/rajkot/election-to-rajkumar-college-board-inconclusive-7520260/

https://www.gujarattourism.com/saurashtra/rajkot/rajkumar-college.html

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/rajkot/election-to-rajkumar-college-board-inconclusive-7520260/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajkumar_College,_Rajkot