Notre Dame College (Dhaka)
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| Notre Dame College, Dhaka | |
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| Motto: | Diligite Lumen Sapientiae -- love the light of wisdom |
| Established: | 1949 |
| Type: | Higher Secondary School |
| Principal: | Father Benjamin De Costa |
| Students: | 4000 |
| Location: | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Campus: | Urban |
| Nickname: | NDC |
Notre Dame College (Bengali: নটরডেম কলেজ) or NDC is a renowned higher secondary degree college affiliated to the National University. It is situated in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which is administrated by the Congregation of Holy Cross, Society of Priests. (In the Indian subcontinent, as in the UK, higher secondary schools, comprising the 11th and 12th year of education, are often referred to as 'colleges'). The college also offers three-year degree program, Bachelor of Arts (B.A. Pass Course) and Bachelor of Social Sciences (B.S.S. Pass Course).
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[edit] History
Notre Dame College was established in Lakshmibazar, Dhaka in November, 1949. It was established by the Roman Catholic Priests from the Order of Holy Cross for the reason of existing crisis in education sector of the new born East Pakistan of that time. Initially, it was known as the St. Gregory College, an extension of the St. Gregory's School, which was also established by the mission. It was relocated to its current location in Motijheel in 1954 and renamed to Notre Dame College. The new name was a tribute to the University of Notre Dame, the alma mater of many of the faculty members. In French Notre Dame means Our Lady, that stands for Mother Mary.
Since inception,this college achieved excellent results.Students of the college obtained the first place in the combined merit list of the Higher Secondary Certificate Examinations seven times in eight years between 1952 and 1959.
Notre Dame College established by the Holy Cross Fathers in 1949 at Lakshmibazar, Dhaka as the first Catholic college named St Gregory College. It was shifted to a new location in 1950 and from there, to its present site at Motijheel in 1954, when it was renamed Notre Dame College after Mother Mary. The institution, run by Roman Catholics, is open to all students, whether rich or poor, Bengali or tribal, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, or Buddhist.
Notre Dame students demonstrated excellent results in the 1950s. The college took the first place in the combined merit list of the Higher Secondary Certificate Examinations seven times in eight years between 1952 and 1959. The college began with classes in arts and commerce subjects. By 1955, it had bachelor of arts courses and in 1960, it started bachelor of science courses. It got affiliation with the university of dhaka in 1955 and in 1959, it was declared the best college in East Pakistan in recognition of the high percentage of successful candidates in various university examinations. Meanwhile, the college also earned reputation for its performance in sports and debating and publication of high quality textbooks by its teaching staff.
The college has been endowed with well-trained and devoted teachers from the very beginning but in the 1960s, it fell short of teachers. The problem led the college authority to borrow volunteers from a British organisation called Graduate Volunteers Service Overseas. They taught at the college from 1963 to 1970. It was during this period when renowned researcher Father Timn got associated with the college. Like every other college in the country, Notre Dame was becoming more and more trapped in the growing political agitation throughout the country during 1968-69 and its administration was put to a delicate and trying situation especially in the months of the country's war of liberation. The college got deeply involved in relief and rehabilitation work at that time and it found the activities as a great opportunity for the teachers and students to work together and share ideals and values.
The college continued its efforts to provide good education and character formation to its students in independent Bangladesh and had to make a series of adjustments to the changed environment. The college has a department of guidance and counselling and a director of studies. It inspires the students to become socially conscious. It has a literacy programme for slum children. It teaches social welfare as a special discipline. It has a unique student work programme, under which about 125 students work in the college to pay for their tuition. It also has a small clinic of its own. The medium of instruction in the college had been Bengali during 1972-1997 and later, English medium was re-opened, although Bengali remained a compulsory subject.
[edit] Students of the college
Every year Notre Dame College takes 1200 students in science section and 800 students in commerce and arts section. Previously, there was an admission test, but now an interview is required (with a minimum requirement of a GPA of at least 5 out of 5.0 scale).
[edit] Clubs of Notre Dame College
Notre Dame College has many extracurricular clubs. These clubs are believed to be great assets of the college. The most active clubs include--
- Notre Dame Debating Club
- Notre Dame Science Club
- Notre Dame Adventure Club
- Notre Dame Rover Scouts
- Notre DameBusiness Club
- Notre Dame Chess Club
- Notre Dame Manabik Shongho
- Notre Dame Nature Study Club
- Notre Dame Degree Club
- Yubo (Youth) Red Crescent, Notre Dame College
- Rotaract Club of Notre Dame College
- Notre Dame Natyadol (Theater Group)
- Notre Dame Abritti Dol
- Notre Dame History club
- Association for Medical help and Environmental Health promotion
- International Understanding and Relation Club
- Notre Dame Cultural Club
- Notre Dame LekhokKunjo (Writers' Guild)
(Source: Blue and Gold, 2002-2004)
Notre Dame Science Club, moderated by Professor Sushanta Kumar Sarkar, is one of the oldest science clubs in the country. It celebrated its golden jubilee in 1999.
[edit] Disaster Response Activities
Notre Dame College has a reputation for conducting relief activities after natural disasters. The students and staff participated in relief work after the "Sidr" disaster also the NDC relief distribution team went for rehabilitation program in Gowarnadi (south part of Bangladesh)on December 16, 2007.
[edit] Publications
Blue and Gold is the year book of Notre Dame College. Notre Dame College also publishes students' monthly magazines- Dhak Dhol - Chit Chat. Besides, each club has its own yearly magazine/publication.
[edit] Administration
The college is managed by the Catholic fathers from the Order of the Holy Cross in Dhaka. Since its establishment, ten priests have served as the principal of the college.
- John J. Harrington, 1949-54
- James L. Martin,1954-60
- Theotonius Ganguly, March, 1960 - October, 1960
- William Graham, 1960-67
- John Vanden Bossche, 1967-69
- Joseph S.Peixotto, 1969-70
- Richard Timm, 1970-71
- Ambrose Wheeler, 1971-76
- Joseph Peixotto, 1976-1998
- Benjamin Costa, 1998-
Among them, Father Timm is a renowned biologist and a winner of the 1987 Ramon Magsaysay award for International understanding. Father Timm is also the founder moderator of Notre Dame Science Club.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Alumni list website
- Official Website of Notre Dame Science Club
- Banglapedia Article on Notre Dame College
- A National Daily's Report NDDC
- Golden Jubilee of NDSC in The Daily Star
- Mathfest at Notre Dame College
- Notre Dame IT Fest 2003
- Notre Dame Science Fest 2004
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