D.A.V. Public School, Kathara - Our Story
When one of the greatest sons of Mother India, Swami Dayanand Saraswati was lying on his deathbed, he called upon Pandit Gurudatta Vidyarthi, one of his foremost disciples, and encouraged him to create a novel educational institution based on the eighth commandment of Arya Samaj "Avidya should be dispelled and Vidya should be promoted". Later Sri Gurudatta Vidyarthi, Mahatma Hansraj, Swami Shraddhananda, and Lala Lajpat Rai came together and laid the foundation stone of the first DAV School at Lahore in 1886. Mahatma Hansraj accepted the post of Principal honorarily. From then till now, austerity, sacrifice, patriotism, Vedic education coupled with modern science have together been the hallmark of DAV movement and its institutions.
A true Karma Yogin, a staunch believer in the spiritual philosophy of Maharshi Dayanand and Mahatma Gandhi, Mahatma Narayan Das Grover took upon himself the stupendous task of opening a series of schools in Bihar after he retired from the post of Principal, DAV College, Hisar. Carrying forward the legacy of our first leaders, he played a pivotal role by opening about 200 schools in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, and Madhya Pradesh with the financial partnership of Coal India and other enterprises. The first strokes for the magnificent artwork of D.A.V. Public School (Kathara) were etched thus.
A small industrial town in the district of Bokaro (erstwhile Bihar, now Jharkhand) with coal mines and thermal power plants as its main income generators, Kathara attracted the best engineers from the region. However, the absence of a good school remained a handicap for the population. As the general public felt the acute need for a good educational institution, the Central Coalfields Limited (C.C.L) decided to invite D.A.V. to fill this gap in the year 1989. Thanks to the herculean efforts of Sri N.D. Grover, the then Director of DAV Public Schools, Eastern Zone (Ranchi), the unrelenting support of Sri A. K. Sinha, the then C.G.M., CCL Kathara Area and M. Siddique, Dy CPM, CCL Kathara Area, as well as the general public of Kathara, the long-cherished dream was realized after one year in 1990.
The admission process began in July 1990. In the very first year, five hundred students were enrolled in different classes from LKG to V. Teaching commenced on August 8, 1990. The responsibility to run the school fell upon the shoulders of 18 teachers, two office staff, and three fourth-grade staff. Sri Jayant Kumar Arora was appointed as the Founder Principal (1990-94). The able guidance of the head of the institution coupled with the hard work, sincerity, and devotion of the teachers as well as their students brought forth exceptional results. For the first batch of class VIll students who wrote the DAV Board examinations, 1994, out of 33 students, 17 passed in 1st division and the rest 16 passed in 2nd division. Similarly, the first batch of class X appeared in the CBSE Board examinations in 1996. 25 students passed in the first division. In the year 1998, 40 students appeared in Class XII CBSE Board examinations. 27 got first division and 5 got second division. With consistent focus on the holistic development of the personality, our students have been doing exceptionally well in extracurricular activities. From cultural activities to sports, the school has routinely produced champions in every department. Today, it is a full-fledged 10+2 school and about 2105 students are studying here. The number of teaching and non-teaching staff has gone up to 63. The school also boasts state-of-the-art laboratories for the subjects of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Computer Science to make sure our students understand concepts by doing and practising what they learn in the classrooms. Our students have regularly cracked competitive examinations to get into top colleges in India year after year. We have a strong alumni network with our students working for some of the best companies around the globe.
Since its inception, D.A.V. Public School, Kathara has been spreading the light of learning and over time has established itself as one of the most sought after schools in the area. From Sri J.K. Arora, the first Principal to Sri Bipin Rai, our current Principal, this school has created several milestones including fetching places in the Outstanding and Very Good categories by DAV College Managing Committee (CMC) as well as Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The seed sown in 1990 has developed into a gigantic tree that canopies the entire region today with its strong branches and evergreen leaves of quality and value based education. We are committed to neutralizing the impediments that the children of this region face owing to poor connectivity, accessibility, and income levels to provide world-class education to our students so that they can compete with the best and create a golden future for themselves, their families, and this great nation.