Estab­lished in 1935 in the image of a private Eng­lish board­ing school, The Doon School in Dehradun in India is one of the most pres­tigi­ous edu­cational insti­tutions in the coun­try. The founder of the school had set him­self the object­ive of break­ing down the caste sys­tem with this school. Since the begin­ning, not only the stu­dents but also teach­ing staff have come from all castes. The school’s inten­tion is to sup­port excep­tional boys from all classes and to inspire them to serve soci­ety with eth­ical lead­ership.

When we vis­ited the pro­ject in March 2023 we were par­tic­ularly impressed to learn about the lifelong attach­ment of the old boys, who con­tinue to sup­port the school with dona­tions or by volun­teer­ing their time, for dec­ades after they have left. One former Doon scholar for example who is now a suc­cess­ful archi­tect, redesigned the din­ing hall and kit­chen free of charge. The spirit of ser­vice which is inher­ent in all Round Square Schools is for life.

The high­light of our visit was of course get­ting to know our schol­arship recip­ients and see­ing how proud the house­mas­ters are of the achieve­ments of their boys.