Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun
Inaugurated in 1922 in the heyday of the British empire, RIMC is a feeder institution to the elite National Defence Academy, NAVAC and other officer training academies of the 1 million strong Indian Army
Contrary to its nomenclature, the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) is a CBSE-affiliated boarding school offering excellent class VIII-Plus Two education. Administered by the Indian Army, RIMC is a feeder institution to the elite National Defence Academy (NDA), Naval Academy (NAVAC) and other officer cadre training academies of the 1 million strong Indian Army. Nestling in the foothills of the Shivalik ranges in the picturesque Doon Valley of Dehradun, this boys’ only residential school has the unique distinction of producing over 300 officers of the rank of brigadier and above, and their equivalent in the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force (IAF). The school’s roll of honour boasts four chiefs of army staff — K.S. Thimayya, G.G. Bewoor, V.N. Sharma, and S. Padmanabhan; one IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal N.C. Suri and three chiefs of the Pakistan defence forces — Air Marshals Asghar Khan and Noor Khan, and Gen. Gul Hasan Khan. This stellar cast apart, alumni include top civil servants, ambassadors, and captains of Indian industry.
Inaugurated in 1922 in the heyday of the British empire by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) and modelled on the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, UK, RIMC is a member of the Indian Public Schools Conference. Sprawling across a 138 acre verdant campus, the college has an aggregate enrollment of 250 male students instructed by 20 highly-qualified teachers selected by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC), Delhi. An aesthetic mix of Victorian architecture, contemporary buildings and playing fields, which blend seamlessly into its woodland setting, RIMC has been declared a heritage site by INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage).
"The prime objective of RIMC is to prepare cadets (students) for careers in the defence forces. To this end we provide them holistic education focused on developing their intellect, character and leadership abilities. Although over 90 percent of our graduates sign up with the army, navy and air force, there is no compulsion to do so and cadets are free to choose any career after graduation. Our rigorous academic curriculum equips students to pursue further study and professional training in any academic discipline," says Col. Prem Prakash, an alumnus of the prestigious National Defence Academy, Pune and commandant, who is the academic as well as administrative head of the school.
RIMC restricts admissions to 50 students annually, inducted in two batches of 25 each in January and July. Admission is merit-based following an all-India entrance exam held twice a year (June and December), personal interview and medical examination. Army headquarters conducts class X and XII board exams based on the CBSE curriculum twice a year, and the college’s school-leaving certificate is recognised by the Association of Indian Universities. By reputation and common consensus, on the parameters of academic excellence, infrastructure, quality of faculty, sports facilities and adventure activities, RIMC is on a par with India’s very best private sector schools. The college’s teacher-pupil ratio is an enviable 1:12 and classrooms are equipped with hi-tech computer facilities. In addition to state-of-the-art math and science labs, a well-stocked library of 18,000 books and several periodicals serves the school.
Inevitably given its armed forces orientation, the distinguishing characteristic of RIMC is its emphasis on hands-on learning and extra-curricular education. "Teaching-learning in the classroom is project and activity-based and students are compulsorily required to participate in a wide range of sports and adventure activities such as horse riding, boxing and shooting. We believe that extra-curricular education is not only important to build physical strength and stamina, but also helps develop leadership and teamwork qualities which are a prerequisite for a career in the defence forces," says Col. Prakash, an RIMC alumnus himself.
Therefore the top brass of the Indian Army has ungrudgingly equipped the college with state-of-the-art infrastructure. Campus facilities include an olympic size swimming pool, outdoor and indoor shooting ranges, horse riding, boxing ring, courts for squash, basketball and volley ball, and separate fields for cricket, football and hockey. Personalised coaching is provided for all major games and sports. On the co-curricular education front, RIMC offers a wide menu including art and crafts, journalism, music, gardening, aero-modeling, life skills training, community service and nature conservation.
Given its larger national objective of inspiring and preparing young people to pursue a career in the defence services, tuition and boarding at RIMC is heavily subsidised with students having to pay an annual fee of a mere Rs.22,300. Moreover several state governments and RIMC alumni offer generous student scholarships.
While within the fast-expanding Indian economy a slew of new vocation and career options has slowed down youth interest in the armed forces, there has been no let-up in admission seekers to RIMC. "For the 25 seats we offer half-yearly, we receive over 25,000 student applications. Given this pressure for admission we intend to increase our annual intake from the current 250 to 350 next year. We want RIMC to be accessible to as many children as possible," says Col. Prakash.
Against the backdrop of declining standards of education — particularly in government run institutions — RIMC which is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year, has lived up to its institutional goal of a "proud past, persevering present and promising future". Today it is a beacon and model to all secondary schools aspiring to institutional excellence.
Admission and fees The Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun is a CBSE-affiliated, fully residential school offering class VIII-Plus Two education. Admission is open to boys who have successfully completed class VII and have attained the age of 11 and a half years. To qualify for admission, students have to write an all-India competitive examination conducted twice a year (June and December), attend a personal interview and undergo a medical test. There is no reservation of any kind, though effort is made to give equal student representation to the 29 states of the Indian Union.
Tuition fee (per year): Rs.22,300 (inclusive of board and lodging). A refundable fee of Rs.10,000 is charged at the time of admission.
For further information contact Commandant RIMC, Dehradun Cantt. Dehradun (Uttarakhand). Tel: 0135 2752083/ 2755572; e-mail: rimcollege@yahoo.com; website: www.rimc.org |
Autar Nehru (Dehradun)
University of San Francisco, USA
A private Catholic university founded in 1855 by the Society of Jesus (aka Jesuits), usf has acquired an excellent reputation for rigorous scholarship
Sited in one of America’s most famous cities, the University of San Francisco (USF) has built itself a good reputation for delivering education characterised by rigorous scholarship and integration of real-life issues with classroom learning. The US News and World Report (2007) ranks USF among the top 135 national univerities in the US, and among top 20 in terms of international students and cultural diversity of its student body. Moreover the Wall Street Journal ranks USF’s MBA programme among the top 100 in the world. At USF the teacher-student ratio is an enviable 1:14 with 93 percent of faculty boasting doctoral or postgrad qualifications. The student headcount is 8,568, including 430 international students from 75 countries worldwide. A private Catholic university founded way back in 1855 by the Society of Jesus (aka Jesuits), USF was San Francisco’s first institution of higher learning. Started as the St. Ignatius Academy, USF received a charter from the state of California to confer degrees in 1859 and was renamed St. Ignatius College. To celebrate its diamond jubilee in 1930, St. Ignatius College changed its name to the University of San Francisco. A males-only insitution for most of its history, USF became fully co-educational in 1964.
"USF is committed to becoming internationally recognised as a premier Jesuit Catholic urban university with a global perspective that educates leaders who will fashion a more humane and just world. Currently, we are in the midst of a $175 million capital expenditure campaign, the largest in the university’s history. When completed, the infrastructure will further enable USF to educate students with the brains to make a difference and the hearts to want to do so," says Stephen A. Privett, SJ, president of USF.
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an Francisco. Sited on the tip of San Francisco Peninsula, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the San Francisco Bay to the east, and the Golden Gate bridge to the north, Frisco (pop. 744,000) is the fourth largest city in California. A popular international tourism destination renowned for its chilly summer fog, steep rolling hills (there are 50 hills within city limits), an eclectic mix of Victorian and contemporary architecture, parks and its peninsular character, the city has many famous landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, its cable cars, Coit Tower, and Chinatown. It’s also home to six Fortune 500 companies, major information and biotechnology businesses, famous museums and top architecture, design and media firms. From the city centre, Silicon Valley, the hub of the information technology industry worldwide, is less than an hour’s drive. San Francisco’s Mediterranean climate, characterised by mild wet winters and warm dry summers, is strongly influenced by cool currents of the Pacific Ocean. The combination of cold ocean water and high heat of the California mainland creates the city’s characteristic fog that can shroud the western half of the city all day during the spring and early summer. Summertime temperatures peak to 21°C while in winter they seldom dip below 10°C.
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ampus facilities. Spread across 51 acres, USF’s hilltop campus is in the centre of San Francisco, close to the city’s salubrious parks, shops and restaurants. With wireless internet, modern classrooms and well-equipped research laboratories, the educational facilities are cutting-edge. The Richard Gleeson Library and the Charles and Nancy Geschke Learning and Research Center (named after Charles Geschke, university benefactor and co-founder of Adobe Systems and his wife Nancy) together house over a million volumes, subscribe to almost 3,000 periodicals and provide access to a wide range of digital resources. The Koret Health and Recreation Center features a state-of-the-art gymnasium, exercise rooms, an olympic size swimming pool, indoor basketball, volleyball, badminton and racquet courts, and facilities for fencing and karate. Opportunities to participate in outdoor sports and adventure activities such as horse riding, sailing, sea kayaking, skiing and snowboarding at Lake Tahoe, abound. Moreover to broaden non-academic interests, USF offers students membership of more than 90 clubs and societies.
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dmission. The minimum eligibility criterion for admission into USF’s undergrad programmes is a first class Plus Two certificate. Foreign students have to submit proof of proficiency in English (TOEFL or IELTS test scores are acceptable) and high SAT scores. The completed application form must include attested certified copies of original academic documents from all secondary and post-secondary schools attended, a personal essay, proof of participation in extra-curricular activities and letters of recommendation from a teacher/school official together with an application fee of $55 (Rs.2,200). The application deadline for entry into the academic year beginning August 2008 is January 15 next year.For further information contact Offices of Undergraduate and Graduate Admission, 2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA 94117-1088, USA. Tel: +1 415 422 6172; e-mail: international admission@usfca.edu; website: www.usfca.edu/international admission.
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ccommodation. Most USF students live on campus in one of the university’s five halls of residence or apartment-style community. All halls of residence are co-ed (with the exception of one all-female hall) and offer laundry rooms and kitchen facilities. Moreover each hall room has a telephone, cable television outlet, and high-speed ethernet connection. University apartments are located off-campus and provide all amenities including kitchen and laundry rooms.D
egree programmes. Accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, USF offers a wide range of undergrad, postgrad and doctoral programmes across five faculties including arts and science, law, education, business and nursing.Scholastic options at USF University of San Francisco offers a wide range of undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programmes across six faculties. They include: College of arts and science. Architecture and community design, Asian studies, comparative literature and culture, economics, engineering, English, environmental studies, exercise and sports science, French studies, history, international and development economics, international studies, Japanese studies, Latin American studies, media studies, performing arts and social justice, philosophy, politics, psychology, sociology, Spanish, theology and religious studies, visual arts, biology, chemistry, computer science, maths, physics and material physics Business and management. Accounting, business administration, entrepreneurship, finance, hospitality industry management, international business, management, marketing Law. Juris doctor, Master of laws degree in international transactions and comparative law, and intellectual property and technology law Education. Counselling psychology, international and multicultural education, leadership studies (Catholic educational leadership, and organisation and leadership), learning and instruction (including special education), and teacher education (including digital media and learning) Nursing. Bachelor of science in nursing, family nurse practitioner, healthcare systems leadership College of professional studies. Information systems, non-profit administration, organisation development, project management, public administration, health service administration Bill of costs (annual). Tuition fees: $30,840; Admission fee: $440; Living expenses: $16,100 NB: $=40 |
Summiya Yasmeen