SCS: About and History

The golden jubilee edition the "The Columban" i.e 1941-1991 details the genesis and the formation of St. Columbas School. The contents below have been extracted from the special edition.

St. Columba



ST.COLUMBA or ‘Colum-Cile’ – the "dove of the church" in Irish · was born the son of an Ulster Chieftain of the O’Donnel Clan in Gertan, County Donegal on December the 7th, $21 A.D.


Vivacious, determined and extremely hard working, St. Columba was educated by St. Finian at Moville, and ordained a monk around 546 A.D. After founding monasteries at Derry and Durrow in Ireland, he was exiled for having started two civil wars in the north. These short, sharp wars served this shrewd politicians purpose in bringing peace to the United Kingdom.


In 563 A.D., St. Columba arrived on the Isle of Iona where he founded a Monastery which was to be the headquarters of missionary work in Scotland, and the ruling house of all monasteries founded by him in the western isles.
It was in Iona that this pioneer of Christianity died on the 9th of June 597 A.D. Iona is today visited by pilgrims the world over. They wish to see the place from which this great man brought Christianity to what is now North Britain, and to revel in the atmosphere in which St. Columba -who at various times received acclaim as a missionary, scholar, poet, ascetic and diplomat - lived and worked.


Edmund Ignatius Rice

Founder of the Congregation of Christian Brothers


Born on 1 June 1762, in the village of Callan in the centre of Ireland, Edmund Rice was the fourth of seven sons of a respected farming family. At the age of seventeen, Edmund joined his uncle's business firm in the seaport town of Waterford, and proved himself so capable that eventually the business was confided to his care. His spiritual growth equalled his material success, and his charitable activities were many and varied.



At the age of twenty five he married, but the tragic death of his wife only two years later left him bereft and with the responsibility for a delicate baby daughter. Supported by the sturdy faith he had inherited from his parents, he responded to this heavy cross by turning more fervently to God through an intensive study of the Scriptures and frequent attendance at Mass and the Sacraments. His charitable activities increased; the aged, the poor, those in prison, all received of his care. Even those condemned to the gallows sought his administrations in their last moments. he became known as one of the leading Catholic laymen in Waterford.


The year 1802, when he reached forty years of age, witnessed a turning-point in his life. For some time he had been considering following his younger brother, Fr John Rice, into the Augustinian Order. Friends, however, pointing out to him the miserable condition of the many destitute boy who uncouth and untaught, roamed the streets of the town, persuaded him to come to their help. With the encouragement of Pope Pius VI and the blessing of Dr. Hussey, Bishop of Waterford, Edmund disposed of his business, provided suitable care for his daughter, and then set up a temporary school in a disused stable, the loft
of which was to serve as his living quarters. The work at first was incredibly difficult Appalled at the prospect facing them, the assistants whom he had engaged quickly departed, leaving him alone to carry on the work. But before long he was joined by others who had been inspired by his example, and with them he began a simple religious life. Thus the Irish Christian Brothers (now called the Congregation of Christian Brothers) began · the first religious congregation of men in modern times to be founded by a layman.

The Congregation received its official Brief as a Papal lay Religious Congregation in 1820 and Edmund Rice, now known as Br Ignatius, was elected its first Superior General. In spite of the sufferings and trials which were his constant companions, his heroic faith, his intense devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, his live of Our Lady and his complete detachment from his own interest, made him equal to every test. He saw his community increase steadily,
spreading throughout Ireland, England and teaching out to Gibraltar. In 1838, exhausted by age and expertions, he resigned his duties and, six years later, he died, renowned for his holiness and so utterly poor that a friend had to supply the money to purchase his simple coffin.


He lies buried in the grounds of his first permanent school, erected largely from his won finances and which is fittingly called Mt Sion. Today his mission is continued by more than 3000 Brothers living in 350 communities and educating almost 200,000 students throughout the world.



Date : 7th of January 1 941 , Day: Tuesday
A diary entry

We were to start to train the youth of Delhi. 32 boys presented themselves for admission, of whom 5 were Catholics, 18 Hindus, 8 Muslims and one Sikh, conspicuous in his purple turban. School had started at any rate and the staff set to, work. The numbers began to grow steadily and by the middle of March the enrolment had reached IOO. This was encouraging and applications began to flow in but not everybody was admitted. Senior boys were not encouraged but regardless, a fair number found their way in. Our policy was on us,’ to admit only pupils from the KC. to standard Vl. We wanted to give the school a good tone by our own training and to work on those who were ready to receive and imbibe our methods of training. The boys admitted were a wise lot and very friendly so that good spirit made its way into the school from the start. A majority of the pupils were the sons of Government officials, quiet and easy going, and more fond of pleasure and amusement than study, homework and preparation work of any kind. "Our teachers" said one of these pupils, "enforce a lot of homework and yet call themselves Christian Brothers!"




The Genesis of St. Columba’s

Conditions on Which The Christian Brothers Of Ireland Were Prepared To Open A
Day School ln New Delhi:


l. The Archbishop of Delhi and Shimla is to give the Brothers a permanent lease of a clearly defined portion of the Cathedral Compound for the purposes of the said school.

2. The said lease is to be registered in the Civil court of India.

3. The Brothers are to erect the necessary buildings at their own expense.

4. The Brothers are to be the managers of the School and are to be free from all monetary obligations to the Archbishop except that they are to contribute towards the support of a chaplain, say from one year alter the School has been opened. This contribution may be as much as Rs.100/- a month,

5. The School is to be a pay School but the Brothers will admit Catholic boys on a lower rate of fees than the rest, as far as the necessities of each individual case require such concession.

6. The Brothers are to have {full liberty to observe their own rules of life and are to have the privilege of having the Blessed Sacrament reserved in their own private


Description of the School in 1941.
(The present Senior School Building).


The school is roughly one third of the total area and is situated on the western side. The School building covers one acre and the rest of the ground is given to a hockey pitch, tennis and badminton courts and flower gardens.


The main body of the school building runs along the north side in a direction from east to west with the front facing south. The total length is 300 feet. There are two wings, each 75 feet in length. Then there is a central block which runs out from the building to distance of 35 feet. Thus, the plan of building is E·Shaped. lt is a two-storeyed brick-building with a facing of small rose red bricks. the front side has verandahs, with the outer edge of the lower ones resting on rectangular pillars which are linked together by white semi circular arches. the upper- verandah is supported by double pillars of Doric Pattern finished off in grey plaster and symmetrically arranged and round the intervals to B height of 31\4 feet are filled in by a concrete parapet and ornamental railings let into the parapet and pillars. The number of pillars along the upper verandah is 64; in addition there are 14 single pillars adorning the great staircase window of the entrance hall. Thus Sr. Columba’s is the school of 8O pillars,

The ground floor contains a library for teachers and boys, respectively, a Boys Lunch Room, Class Rooms, Physics Hall· and Physics Demonstration Room. On the first floor are the Assembly Hall (105 feet by 24 feet) Brothers' rooms, Refectory, community room, chapel, Sacristy, Christians Hall and Chemistry lecture Room. Off the Refectory are the Kitchen and store rooms. The floors of the verandahs, entrance hall, Chapel are all finished off in terraces as also are the stairways; the rest of the floors are done in Indian coloured stone. The wood used in doors, windows and furniture is teak. The main entrance hall with massive folding doors on in the centre, and 30 feet high, 28feet long and 24feet wide. From it a double stair case, y- shaped, leads to the first floor. Off it are the Principal’s office on the eastern side and a reception room for visitors on the western side. Stair ways are also placed in the wings and there is one on the northern side leading to the kitchen.

Elegant cornices and bonds of white aqua stone running the length of storeys help to relieve the drab colour of the bricks. In a word all that could be done to made this building the most comfortable as well as the most beautiful of our schools in India, to say the least, has been done. The whole building with its beautiful arches below and its pillars on the upper floor is in the classic style and is known among the architects of Delhi as, ’the school with the classic front.’


The contractors were Mesrs Ralya Ram Mela Ram, an Indian firm which had a reputation for excellent work in many parts of India and the new School put a crown on that reputation. Messrs Master Sathe Bhuta were the architects. Their cleverest man Mr. Kothari was responsible mainly for the drawing up of the plans and for the design of the school. All did their parts nobly and well. No fault was found either with the contractors or the architects. Instead the highest praises were bestowed on them by everybody who was able to judge what modern school should be like. the huge pile was to be put up in a year and was be ready for opening on the 7th January, 1941. And it was ready everything in fact, except the science laboratories. These were completed later, satisfactorily, and soon gas and water pipes were laid and a petrol gas plant installed. All was complete then for the official opening on Tuesday 29th April 1941, the first anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone.


The School Building- An architect `s view point


All of us see the school from the viewpoint of a place of education. The teachers see it as a place of work. But how is it as a building? To find that out we went and met the only man who actually saw the school buildings as buildings - Mr. N. Kothari, Chief Architect of the school buildings, at his office in Connaught Place.


Mr. Kothari kindly gave us some of his valuable time, as he is an extremely busy man. Mr. Kothari said that he had designed the school buildings so that they should be in harmony with the church. An express clause in the agreement for allocation of the land to build a school was that the school should maintain harmony with the church and the church’s grandeur should not be spoilt. To this effect both the Senior and junior schools are done in red brick-work and arches, as we all know. The Middle school, though a modern building, is not at all visible from the church, and so is alright. But Mr. Kothari was extremely disappointed with the new CBCI hostels put up right in front of the church. "They have completely ruined the church", he vehemently says. The buildings, being of a modern type, have clashed with the old-world work of the church, and the result is meaningless. He said "How the church ever agreed to allow these hostels I do not know. They have ruined the church complex. The buildings are pretty useless, too. It is like putting up a modem skyscraper in front of Rashtrapati Bhavan."

Another point Mr. Kothari was sad about was that the new building (behind the Senior School) was not referred to the old architect, at least for advice. Mr. Kothari, as architect for all three of our buildings, felt that he should have been consulted. Mr. Kothari is extremely attached to the school buildings and refers to them as "his baby".


While reminiscing, he told me quite a lot about the schools past. The school, incidentally, was designed by him in 1942 for the requirements given to him by Br. Cummings and Br. Donney from Ireland. The church was designed in 1935-36 by one Mr. Med. So Mr. Kothan had been extremely careful not to spoil the church’s Characters The old buildings cost about Rs. 3OO per square foot. Today, they would cost about 60 times that much. Mr. Kothan said that he had seen the change in the style of architecture in Delhi. He has been practicing architecture for about 55 years, from 1936. He has designed many prominent buildings in the capital, including 12 bank buildings and 19 international embassies. Some of his other noted designs are Harmalaya, FCI building. Modern School Humayun Rd., and the lndian Express. lt would be true to say that none of would have been here in this school building, were it not for Mr. Kothari