stuin

Balipara (Tezpur), Nov. 16: For once, the suave and sophisticated Maharashtra Governor S.C. Jamir was nostalgic, as he remembered the school building where he started his education back home in Nagaland.

The building of his school was a simple, kutcha house without electricity while the one he graced this weekend is one of the most modern of educational institutions in the country — the Assam Valley School (AVS).

“I really wish I was young and studying in this school,” Jamir said in his address as the chief guest of the 14th Founders’ Day celebrations of the school on its campus, located at the picturesque Hatichura tea estate, around 27km from Tezpur.

The three-day celebrations concluded yesterday.

The former Nagaland chief minister recalled his own school to highlight the contrast and told the attentive students, “Your school is, perhaps, the best school with all the amenities and a beautiful ambience. I was thrilled to see the vast playfield, the sprawling green campus and the aesthetically built building.”

Jamir felt that India’s transition to a knowledge-based economy would require a talented pool of manpower and the products of AVS are sure to fit into the role.

Maj. Gen. R.S. Chand, the GOC of the Tezpur-based 4 Corps, was equally impressed by the sporting talent in AVS and was confident that it would be able to produce Sachin Tendulkars, P.T. Ushas and Abhinav Bindras.

Gen. Chand — the chief guest of the annual athletic championship held yesterday morning — said he was highly impressed by the sporting spirit of the students and predicted that they would make the country proud in the near future.

The AVS, founded in 1995 by the Williamson Magor Education Trust, is rated among the 20 best residential schools in the country and is the only exclusive co-educational boarding school affiliated to the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination.

The headmaster of the school, D.N.A. Mountford, said in his Founders’ Day lecture, “At AVS, we are committed to the building up of young people for a globally-connected life in the 21st century.”

That the headmaster was right could be gauged from the all-round talent that the students of the school showcased. It started with an exhibition where the students presented fascinating model on various issues from China’s increasing aggression over Arunachal Pradesh to the Naxalite problem in the country.

The dramatic skills of the students were at its best when they staged Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.

Assamese actress Zerifa Wahid, among the special invitees, said she could hardly believe that such young students could play the role of tough characters with so much passion and skill.

The celebrations ended with an athletic meet where students showed their skills in different disciplines.

The school went on a vacation for a week from yesterday. “The vacation is a much deserved break for students after the month-long preparations to make the 14th Founders’ Day celebration a great success,” a faculty member of the school said.