Durbar High School (Bhanu Secondary School)

Durbar High School also known as Bhanu Secondary School is established during Rana regime. Established in 1854, Durbar High School is the country’s first school. Located in Ranipokhari, Kathmandu, it previously taught only members of the ruling family, but was opened to private citizens in 1902.

The school had to shift constantly from Thapathali Durbar to Charburja Durbar, Seto Durbar and Narayanhiti Durbar before being located in a small shed in Jamal. Finally in 1891, the then prime minister Bir Shumsher Rana had the present long building built on the west side of Rani Pokhari. In 1900, Durbar School was turned into a public school. In 1967, its name was changed to Bhanu Madhyamik Vidyalaya.

The school lies next to Rani Pokhari built by king Pratap Malla in 1670. The school was originally an elementary English school. Feeling humiliated by not being able to communicate in English during his visit to Europe, Jung Bahadur Rana set up a school at his residence in 1853 with two teachers imported from England to teach children of the ruling families. The school was later shifted to Thapathali Durbar with an Englishman called Kenning as its first teacher. Named Durbar School (palace school), it marked the beginning of modern education in Nepal, but only the ruling Ranas and their sons could attend it. In 1876, the school began admitting children of high class government officers too.

Initially, the school as a feeder institution was affiliated with Calcutta University, and students had to travel to Kolkata for their high school entrance examination until an examination centre affiliated with Patna University was opened in Kathmandu in 1929. 

In 1933, the government established the School Leaving Certificate Examination Board and students did not have to travel to India for their exams. The historical school building also possesses archaeological importance and is loved by millions of people.  

Some parts of the school were destroyed in the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. The school is currently being rebuilt under the Chinese Aid. The four-storey school building with more than 40 classrooms will be built in an area of 4,200 square metres.