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The genesis of YPS, as a matter of
fact, lies in the Aitchison College, Lahore (the only
Public School in Pre-Partition Punjab), which is closely
related to, bears a contrast to, and has to play a great
role in making of our school.
This was the college not for all, but only for scions of
princes and potentates, lords and aristocrats. His
Highness the late Maharajadhiraj Yadavindra Singh of
Patiala, from whose august name this school derives its
significance, was also a student of this college and
later a member of its Board of Governors. But he was
against restrictions in admission of boys to Aitchson
College and had an idea of opening a public school at
Patiala which would be open to all, irrespective of
caste, creed or colour. However, this idea somehow could
not be translated into reality.
August 1947 came, the time which witnessed the most
bestial bloodshed of the era. The parents of the boys
from Patiala and His Highness' own contemporaries
appealed to His Highness to give shape to his old idea
of starting a public school in Patiala. The generous,
bountiful and benign ruler of patiala, who had always
taken keen interest in the education of the youth of
this country, promptly acceded to the request. On 11th
October 1947 the late Rai Bahadur Dhani Ram Kapila, one
of the old teachers of His Highness and the Headmaster
of Aitchison College, was brought to Patiala from
Ludhiana under military escort. On 12th October, a six
member committee was appointed to explore the
possibilities of founding the public school in Patiala.
On 30th October 1947 the Maharaja of Patiala, members of
the Committee and departmental heads visited the Stadium
and Exhibition Grounds to select the site for the school
and for a temporary building for the boarding house. The
Yadavindra Stadium was made available for classrooms and Bhupindra Kothi for boarding house. On
2nd February 1948
the school started functioning with a meagre strength of
21 students and 9 teachers, with Rai Bahadur Dhani Ram
Kapila as the Principal. The school was an improvement
on Aitchison College in that there was no social
restriction on the admission of students. Anyone without
any prejudice to race, belief or faith could join the
school.
In 1950, we attended the Indian Public School's
Conference and YPS was elected a member of the
Conference. The same year Rai Bahadur Dhani Ram Kapila
had a stroke of partial paralysis which eventually
necessitated his having to relinquish charge of the
school. On 18th September, 1950 Lt. Col. Frank Von
Goldstein took over and shouldered the responsibility.
From a small beginning we continued to grow steadily;
and now we had more boys on roll than we officially had
room for, with still more clamouring for admission.
In 1954, the school was made co-educational; with the
number of students still increasing, we had to beg,
borrow or build more accommodation and increase the
number of playing fields. The existing boarding house
facilities were expanded and a third boarding house was
opened in 1953. In 1957, His Highness the Maharaja of
Patiala placed Lal Bagh at our disposal. For playing
fields, we levelled the areas between the boarding
houses and the stadium.
Renovated, furbished and embellished, the school now
presents an attractive look. After facing difficulties
with courage and confidence for 50 years, we have now
established ourselves as one of the leading Public
Schools in the country. Our school crest bears the
motto- "VIDYA VINAY VEERTA"- Valour and
Humility through Knowledge- and we endeavour to
follow it earnestly. We pay a lot of attention to
character building as also to sports activities as part
of education. Over the last 50 years, we have gained a
place for ourselves as one of the premier schooling
institutions in our country.
So, like the proverbial grain of mustard we have grown,
extended our roots and branches, so that now we are
nursing and nurturing numerous boys and girls who will
mature into the captains of society in the years to
come. In 1973, when we celebrated our Silver Jubilee, we
had 550 students on roll and 40 teachers on strength,
and now, when the 'Golden' sun shines with all its
brilliance, we are proud to have grown to a strength of
over 1600 students and 100 teachers.
For us, each child is of great
eminence, because: |
