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History

1927 : The Lady Irwin School for Girls was established under the leadership of Shri Satish Ranjan Das, the Law Member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council in Shimla, the summer capital of British India. The Viceroy was Lord Irwin and the school was named after Lady Irwin. The school functioned in Shimla in the summer months and shifted to Delhi in winter, along with the offices of the Central Secretariat. It used to be housed in different buildings in Delhi. The school building in Shimla, which is considered to be a heritage building, houses the Dalziel Hotel.

The School was started for the girl children of the Central Government Staff. To break class distinctions among the children of the Central Government, the school was open to all and not just the elite. The less effluent also found the school affordable because the fees were linked to the guardian’s salary. The school was affiliated to the Punjab University.

1938 : Shri S. R. Das, born on 29th February 1870, died on 26 October 1928. After his death, Shrimati Bonolata Gupta Das, Sir Nripendra Nath Sarkar, Law Member, Shri Amrit Lal Banerjee, Shri D.L. Mitter, Finance Member, Shri Bhupendra Nath Mitra and Mrs. Pratibha Sanyal Mitra worked to procure the land for the school at Canning Road. The school building was constructed by contractor Sir Sobha Singh, father of Mr. Khushwant Singh from 1931 to 1937 at Canning Road (now renamed as Shrimant Madhav Rao Scindia Marg.)  

1942 : During the war, the Central Government discontinued the summer exodus to Shimla. As a consequence, the Shimla wing had to be run as a branch school throughout the year.
The total strength of students in the school, including its Shimla branch, was about 400.

1944 : The Science Wing was added to the main building. Miss Dwara retired as Principal and Ms. Kamala Sengupta took charge as Principal.

1947 : After Partition, the Central Government was suddenly confronted with tremendous problem of providing educational facilities for the children of the displaced families from West Pakistan. The doors of the school were opened for the refugee children and in a few months about 1000 children were admitted into different classes. 

1949 : The school, which had been under the direct administration of the Central Government, was transferred to the Delhi Administration in 1949. At the same time, the Shimla branch was transferred to a D.A.V. Trust.  The Shimla branch, is Dayanand Public now.

1950 : Due to acute shortage of space, the School hired additional accommodation in the Curzon Road barracks, which accommodated the Primary Section.

1952 : The school Gymnasium Hall was constructed, where 100 children could take P.T. at one time.

1959 : the Primary Section was shifted to a new building in Defence Colony. The middle school shifted to the Curzon Road barracks from where the primary school shifted.

1961 : The first Prime Minister of independent India, Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru, was the chief guest at the P.T. show which was very much appreciated by him.

 1964 : A new wing was added to the existing building of the Primary Department.

1967 : Additional land for the Middle School, adjacent to the Main School, was acquired largely due to the efforts of Ms. Sengupta and a parent, Mr. Bose Mullick, then Vice Chairman of D.D.A.

Mr. Bisweswar Chatterjee, an IPS officer, was a prominent Governing Body Member of Lady Irwin School. Mr. S. K. Sanyal, Joint Secretary in the Education Ministry was another important member of the Governing Body.

Mr. O.P. Verma, Chief Engineer, Delhi Flying Club and Mr. M.G. Karnik, Chief Engineer, Instruments Division in Indian Airlines, were responsible for installation of a diesel pump in the school. They also added a double decker bus to the school fleet and had the body constructed from Jullundhar Body Builders.

1973 : Ms. K. Sengupta retired as Principal 0n 24th December 1973 after rendering 30 years of dedicated service. She was awarded both the State and National Award for Teachers.

Mrs. B. Nag took over as Principal of the school from the same date.

1975 : On the request of Mrs. B Nag, Dr. Usha Nayar Subberwal, working in AIIMS, agreed to be a Governing Body Member. She herself was an alumnus of the Lady Irwin School. She remained a Governing Body Member from 1974 to August 1986, when she left for Saudi Arabia on deputation. 

A new building for the middle school was constructed, adjacent to the main school building at Canning Road (now Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Marg). The Curzon Road barracks which housed the middle school were vacated and handed back to the C.P.W.D.

1979 : The School was upgraded to the Senior Secondary level i.e. 10 + 2 pattern. Delhi Administration started sending school children to participate in Republic Day Parades.

1982 The school Gymnasium acquired a new look as it was chosen as a venue for practice of women participants in athletics during the Asian Games, 1982.

1986 : Mrs. Kanchan Mediratta took charge as Principal after retirement of Mrs. B. Nag. Mrs. B Nag was awarded both the State and National Award for Teachers. Old students started coming to the school and were welcomed by Mrs. Mediratta.

1988 : Mrs K. Mediratta started a canteen service on Saturdays – a canteen of the students, by the students and for the students. The children learnt to keep track of their collection, kept accounts and utilized the money for their class rooms requirements like brooms, dust pans etc.

The boundary walls and Iron gates of all three buildings – Primary, Middle and Senior were properly constructed and repaired.

Other construction works like repair of ceiling of the main school building were undertaken. Water connection, electric fittings etc. were also over hauled and white – washing and painting of the buildings was undertaken. Water tanks were also constructed and syntax tanks fixed to store drinking water for the students.

1989 : Computer Science was introduced as a subject in the Middle and Senior classes. Computer room was set up in the School. Geography was introduced at the + 2 level.

1991 : Mrs. K Mediratta received Delhi State Teacher’s Award. She headed the prestigious Lady Irwin Senior Secondary School till her retirement in September 1998. During Mrs. Mediratta tenure as Principal, Dr. Bharati Sarkar another old student, and teacher became a part of the Governing Body.

1998 : For a brief period from September 1998 to March 1999, Mrs. Usha Jain took charge as Principal.

1999 : From April 1999 to December 2003, Mr. D.K. Mainrai was the Principal of the School.

2004 : From January 2004 to August 2005 Mrs. Sudha Rani was the Principal. Lady Irwin School Alumni Association was founded and registered.

2005 : September onwards Mrs. Shanta Kashyap officiated and later became the Principal. P.T.A elections took place and Mr. Arun Kumar became the secretary of the Parent teachers Association. Massive repairs were carried out in the school. The floors of the class rooms were redone with Kota stone. The main and middle school building were white washed and doors and windows painted.
About fifty grant in aid teachers were recruited.

2009 : Mrs. Dheera Ghosh Dastidar was appointed Vice Principal/H.O.S. She officiated as Principal through out her tenure. The toilets were repaired in the three buildings, main , middle and junior school.

2015 : July Mrs.  Dheera Ghosh Dastidar retired as officiating Principal and Mrs. Rama Kirpal took over as the Vice Principal / H.O.S. Around 45 grant in aid teachers were recruited. 

2021 : Mrs. Rama Kirpal retired as officiating Principal and Mrs. Jyoti Singh took over as the Vice Principal / H.O.S.

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