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| St. John's college, Agra. .joonsquare.com |
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| St. John's college, Agra Educrib |
The East India company officials in charge of education, particularly, Charles Wood, the Chairman of the Board of Control (education) took keen interest in the area of education. In 1840 Wood made a proposal on education known as Wood’s dispatch which later became popular His efforts were aimed at regularizing the education system in India from primary stage to University level and giving encouragement to use both English and Vernacular to teach the subjects. In 1857 Universities came up in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras covering all the three presidencies. In the early period EIC turned a blind eye to the education in India on modern lines because of their pre-occupation with trade activities, land grabbing spree, wheeling and dealing with Indian rulers, etc. Though the missionaries came forward and started colleges in the early colonial period, some used education as a tool for religious conversion and got bad rap. .
St. John's College of Agra, Uttar Pradesh established in 1850 is now part of the Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar University. Earlier it was known as Agra University. Considered one among the oldest educational institutions established by the Church Missionary Society of England jointly with Agra C.M.S. Association, it was named after John, the Apostle, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus
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This historic college had a humble beginning with 297 students, out of which 199 were Hindus, 76 Muslims, and 22 in the early stage - 1869-70. The first Principal was Rev. Thomas Valpy French (1825-1891), a distinguished fellow of University College, Oxford who toiled to improve the quality of education imparted by St. John's. Initially, affiliated to the University of Calcutta from 1862 to 1888 its affiliation was switched over to the University of Allahabad till 1927.
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| St.John's College, Agra, UP. agraleaks.com/ |
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| St. John's college, Agra, college logocollegedekho.com |
With the formation of Agra university (now Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar University) in 1927, the college got the affiliation from it. Dr. A.W. Davies became the first Vice-Chancellor of the newly formed University. Since 1893, the college has offered post-graduate courses. St. John's College is a co-educational institution built on a large campus and is one of the best colleges in Northern India. It offers several under-graduate and post-graduate courses to suite student's interest and demand. Way back in 1891 it became a grade one college with BA and LLB classes. In 1892 this college boldly did what other colleges were reluctant to do it. The first scheduled caste student was admitted in that year despite considerable opposition from many influential quarters of those years.
This college has one of the finest buildings in north India. Constructed in attractive in red sandstone the building was built in Indo-Saracenic style that was made popular by the British architect Robert Chisholm. The style of the building is in harmony with the ethos of Muslim architecture of this place. The foundation stone of the Centenary Wing was laid by Bharat Ratna Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, former President of India, in 1958. Earlier the college celebrated its centenary in 1952 and a new wing was built at that time. On October 9 1969 Pandit Jawarlal Nehru. PM of India inaugurated the building.
The college offers several post-graduate courses with research facilities. It also runs five self-financed recognized courses BCom, BBA, etc. It also offers Post Graduate diploma in clinical psychology.
Come December the college will be celebrating 171 years of its existence. Grand in style, no doubt, this red Indo-Saracenic structure has enriched this heritage city which is famous for the Taj.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John%27s_College,_Agra
https://npnews24.com/2020/12/16/agra-st-johns-college-turns-170/
https://stjohnscollegeagra.in/college-profile.php
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