Faujdarhat Cadet College is a historic public

military high school Military high school is a type of high school that includes military cadet education and so are a form of military academy. They are found in several countries and offer a regular high school education but with an extra military training curricul ...

being the first of its kind in Bangladesh (then

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

) and second in entire

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, modelled after

public schools Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...

in the UK (according to the

Public Schools Act 1868 The Public Schools Act 1868 ( 31 & 32 Vict. c. 118) was enacted by the British Parliament to reform and regulate seven leading English boys' boarding schools, most of which had grown out of ancient charity schools for the education of a certain ...

), run following the national curriculum of Bangladesh in English version, financed partially by the

Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army () is the land warfare branch, and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to defend the land of Bangladesh from any external attack. Control of personnel and operations is ad ...

, located at

Faujdarhat Faujdarhat aka Fouzdarhat is a neighborhood of Chittagong in Bangladesh. It is well known as a ship breaking area, with one of the largest breaking yards in the world: Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard. There are several institutions here, including ...

, near

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

, in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

History

Faujdarhat Cadet College was the first

cadet college Cadet college is a special military high school system of British Raj and later, Pakistan and Bangladesh. History British Raj This system was first established in the pre-Partition, pre-Independence era in order to support the push to indig ...

to be established by

Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

in erstwhile

facing the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

. The government spent 40 lakh taka behind the project and it was opened on 28 April 1958 by Brigadier General Qurban Ali.M. Anwarul Haq (27 April 2008). . ''

The Daily Star (Bangladesh) ''The Daily Star'' is a Bangladeshi English-language daily newspaper. It is by far the largest circulating English-language newspaper in the country. Founded by Syed Mohammed Ali on 14 January 1991, as Bangladesh transitioned and restored parl ...

''. Archived 30 September 2012. The classes started with 60 students in the seventh and eighth grade. Two sons of the then Chief Minister of East Pakistan,

Ataur Rahman Khan Ataur Rahman Khan (; 6 March 1905 – 7 December 1991) was a Bangladeshi lawyer, politician and writer, who served as the Chief Minister of East Pakistan, chief minister of East Pakistan from 1 September 1956 – March 1958, and as the prime mi ...

were part of the inaugural cohort of the school. The school was known as East Pakistan Cadet College until 1965, when three new cadet colleges were established. The school boasts an area of 185 acres making it the largest high school in Bangladesh in terms of area. The school was designed by the most prominent artist of

, Joynul Abedin. The following former cadets of Faujdarhat Cadet College made the supreme sacrifice for the country in the

Bangladesh War of Independence The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

: * Major Abdul Khalek, 1st batch * Captain A. K. M Nurul Absar, 2nd Batch * Md. Mosharraf Hossain, 3rd batch * Lieutenant Md. Anwar Hossain, Bir Uttam, 7th batch * Badiul Alam, Bir Vikram, 7th batch * Captain Shamsul Huda, 7th batch * Mufti Muhammad Kased, 8th batch * Lt. Rafiq Ahmed Sarkar, 10th batch * Wing Commodore (Retd.) M. Wali Ullah, 1st batch * Md. Abdur Rob, 2nd Batch * Colonel (retd) Abu Taher Salahuddin, 4th batch * Dr. M Mujibur Rahman, Ph.D., 4th Batch * Lt. General (Retd.) Abu Saleh Mohammad Nasim, 5th Batch * Major Md. Roshan Yazdani Bhuiyan, Deceased, 6th Batch * Major General Md. Ashraf Hossain, Deceased, 6th Batch * Kamrul Haque, Veer Vikram, 7th batch * Qazi Muhammad Ali Anwar, 8th batch * S. M Iqbal Rashid, 8th batch * Brigadier General (Retd.) Syed Ahmed, Vir Prateek, 8th Batch * Major General (retd.) Syed Muhammad Ibrahim, 9th batch * Lt. Colonel (retd.) Mir Mukhlesur Rahman, 9th batch * Syed Abdur Rashed, 9th batch * Dr. Azadul Islam, Ph.D., 10th batch * Dr. Kaiser M. Hamidul Haque, Ph.D., 10th Batch * Captain (Retd.) Humayun Kabir, Veer Prateek, 10th Batch * Major General (retd) Imamuzzaman, Veer Vikram, 10th batch * Ishraq Ahmed, 10th batch * Major (retd.) Hashmi Mustafa Kamal, 10th batch * Lt. Colonel (Retd.) Kazi Sajjad A Zaheer, Vir Prateek, 10th Batch * AFMA Harris, 11th batch * Major (retd.) Syed Munibur Rahman, 11th batch * Major (Retd.) Didar Atwar Hussain, 11th Batch * Major (retd.) Syed Mizanur Rahman, 11th batch * Dr. Shahriar Huda, Ph.D., 11th batch * Captain (Retd.) Ahsan Aziz Shelley, 12th Batch * Brigadier General (Retd.) Md. Abdur Rahim, 12th batch * M Ibrahim Adil Khan, 12th batch * Anees Quadri, 13th batch * Nazrul Kamal, 13th batch * AKM Shaukat Amin, 13th batch * Belal Uddin, 13th batch * Muhammad Abdur Rahim, 14th batch * Colonel (retd.) Mahmud Rahman Chowdhury, 15th batch * Lt. General Mollah Fazle Akbar, 15th batch After independence in 1971,

Tofail Ahmed Tofail Ahmed (; 22 February 1919 – 28 March 2002) was a well-known Bangladeshi researcher of Folk Art. He was also a collector of Folk artifacts and has authored several books on Bangladeshi Folk arts and Crafts. He was awarded the ''Shilu Abe ...

attempted to introduce

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

's student politics in the school. As he convened a meeting to discuss the prospects with students, senior students of the school boycotted it. The consequences that followed were the enactment of a new policy to convert the four existing cadet colleges to government residential colleges. Cadets from all colleges led by Faujdarhat started "Keep Cadet College Campaign". They met with the then chairman of the cadet college governing body, Brigadier

Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman (19 January 193630 May 1981) was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until Assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of t ...

who arranged a meeting for them with

M. A. G. Osmani Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani (1 September 1918 – 16 February 1984) was a Bangladeshi Officer (armed forces), military officer, revolutionary and politician. His military career spanned three decades, beginning with his service in the Briti ...

who was then the part of

Sheikh Mujib Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

's cabinet. Osmani talked with Prime Minister Sheikh Mujib and convinced him to repeal the new policy. From 2003, the cadet colleges in Bangladesh were converted to the English version of the National Curriculum. Cadets in class

Academic system

Faujdarhat Cadet College

boards Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ty ...

up to 300 boys for grades 7 to 12. Every year, 50 students are admitted to the college at grade 7 through a nationwide admission test composed of written (Bangla, English, Mathematics, General Knowledge), interviews and Medical Examinations. Cadets are enrolled in class 7 of the Bangladesh National Curriculum and continue their study for six years up to the end of higher secondary or college level (high school in international standard). They follow the English version syllabus of the

National Curriculum and Textbook Board The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB; ) is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Education (Bangladesh), Ministry of Education in Bangladesh, responsible for the development of curriculums, production and distribution of ...

. Three national exams are taken by cadets, once in class 8, named Junior School Certificate (JSC), another in class 10, named Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and the high school leaving examination in class 12 known as the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC). Each class generally has fifty students, divided into two sections which are known as forms. The Junior School Certificate (JSC), Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations are administered under the direct control of the Board of Education of Chittagong Division. Cadets have shown a clear trend of securing top positions in the merit lists of board examinations every year.

Reunion programs

Being one of the older educational institutions in the country, and with a long list of illustrious alumni, the college maintains a regular cycle of Reunions every 4 years. Usually, the Old Faujians Association (alumni association of the college) organizes this event teamed up with the college authority.

Reunion 2014

The Reunion in 2014 was a notable event as the Armed Forces also had lent hand in organizing this extravagant 3-day event. The Alumni endowed the college with their support in building new infrastructure and residential facilities as well as carrying out the large event which was held from 25 December to 27 December.

Diamond Jubilee Reunion (Reunion 2018)

On 18 January 2018, the Old Faujians Association (alumni association of the college) organized an event called Diamond Jubilee Reunion. Chief of Army Staff, General Abu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Haque inaugurated the event. The program lasted for three days. It started on 18 January and ended on 20 January. On the second day of the program, the legendary singer of this subcontinent,

Runa Laila Runa Laila (born 17 November 1952) is a Bangladeshi playback singer and composer. She started her career in the Pakistani film industry in the late 1960s. Her style of singing is inspired by Pakistani playback singer Ahmed Rushdi and also f ...

performed on the occasion.

Houses and inter-house competition

There are four buildings to host the cadets, each two-storied. Each of the houses is given a name, a symbol, and a color. * Rabindra House: **House Color: Yellow **House Symbol: Lion **House Motto: Strike and Strive **Former Babar House (South House) *Shahidullah House: **House Color: Red **House Symbol: Tiger **House Motto: We Shall Never Surrender **Former Akbar House (North House) * Fazlul Huq House: ** House Color: Green ** House Symbol: Panther ** House Motto: Never Give In ** Former Aurongzeb House(Ayub House) *Nazrul House: **House Color: Blue **House Symbol: Jaguar **House Motto: They Live Who Dare **Former Shahjahan House Usually, each house has 75 students, 12 to 13 from each grade. Students are divided into houses during their initial intake year. Year-round extra and co-curricular competitions and activities are arranged in the broad categories of cultural, sports and gardening competitions, as well as in academics. Based on results from each competition, the houses earn 'points' and the highest scoring house in a year is announced a winner at the end of the year. This enhances the competition and holistic development of all the cadets.

Dining Hall

The college dining hall is named after its former principal Lt. Col. William Maurice Brown. The dining hall is modeled after the interior of a ship. The dining hall is supervised by a Faculty Member appointed as the Officer-in-Charge Dining Hall And the dining hall is co-operated by a Cadet of grade 12, appointed as The College Dining Hall Prefect. The college dining hall serves meal to the Cadets five times daily. Many ceremonies and farewell dinners are also held in this auspicious dining hall.

Library

The college library is named 'Birsrestho Abdur Rouf Library.' There are around 20,000 (twenty thousand) books in the library with collections from all around the world. The collection of this college library offers books on language, linguistics, mathematics, religion, literature, arts, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, history, computer science, philosophy, psychology, agriculture, statistics and political science. The Library is enriched with valuable reference materials available such as atlases, dictionaries, encyclopedias, annual reports and publications, survey reports, census reports, country reports, statistical yearbooks, military publications, and audio-visual materials.

Hospital

Faujdarhat Cadet College has a well-developed hospital. It is named after Birsrestho Nur Mohammad, who was killed in the Independence War of Bangladesh. The hospital is run by a specialized doctor ranked

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

from the medical corps of the Bangladesh Army. Besides cadets, it provides treatment to employees of all classes along with their families. All kinds of basic and first aid treatments are available. It is well-equipped with pathological tools to diagnose basic diseases. In case of critical diseases and emergency situations, patients are sent to Combined Military Hospital, Chittagong.

Alumni

Government and politics

Military and diplomacy

Academia and science

Culture, entertainment and sports

References

External links

* * {{Cadet Colleges in Bangladesh Military high schools 1958 establishments in East Pakistan High schools in Bangladesh Educational Institutions affiliated with Bangladesh Army Faujdarhat Cadet College Educational institutions established in 1958 Sitakunda Upazila