Jashore Zilla School is the fifth oldest school in Asia, the second oldest in Bangladesh, and the oldest school in Jashore southwest of Bangladesh. It was established on 3 February 1838 and named Jessore Zilla School after 1872. Though the school was established under a government order, it was founded with donations from local people. On 27 January 1845, the wife of the zamindar of Naldi Pargana made an annual grant of Tk 300 for running the school. The school received financial and other help from persons like Babu Ramratan, Nilkamal Pal Chowdhury, Raja Barodakanta Roy, Darakanath Thakur, Kunjalal Thakur, Moulavi Abdullah, Mohammad Karim, Pranonath Chowdhury, Shukh Das Roy, Radhamohan Gosh Chowdhury, and Kalikanta Poddar. In 2018 the renamed in English as Jashore Zilla School along with city and district name.
History
The school was launched with 132 students in the bungalow of Rani Kattayani of Naldi. Later, Jessore Zilla School acquired 7.8 acres of land in the Kharki-Jessore mouza and was shifted there after building new houses.
Jessore Zilla School introduced the teaching of the Persian language in 1874 and of Urdu after 1947. Urdu was the medium of instruction for non-Bengali students of the school. The Pakistan government undertook the development of the school under a pilot project in 1963. That year a new stream of science group alongside the existing humanities group was introduced in the school. The commerce group was introduced in 1965 and in 1970, students got the opportunity to register in the fine arts group. The school has common rooms, a science laboratory and a library.
The first headmaster Mr. J Smith worked from 1838 to 1848 in the first term and then from 1851 to 1865 in another.
The school runs in two shifts. Morning shift (7-12 am) and day shift (12.20-5.35 pm).
Infrastructure
Jessore Zilla School has 5 buildings including 4 buildings consisting classrooms and an administrative building. It also has a mosque, a big auditorium, a health complex, 2 bicycle garages, a playground, and two ponds.
Notable alumni
M. Shamsher Ali, physicist
Mohammad Sharif Husain, academic and philanthropist
Mashiur Rahman, politician
Mosharraf Hossain, politician
Muhammad Shahidullah, linguist
Md.Kowsar Ali-Bangladesh National Football & Hockey Players & National Hockey Coach Hafiz Ahmed Mazumder, businessman and politician Nafiz Zunaide President's Scout