Feni Girls' Cadet College

Military high school in Bangladesh

Feni Girls' Cadet College is a military high school for girls, located in Feni Sadar Upazila, Bangladesh. Cadet colleges are autonomous residential institutions that impart an all round education to the young learners at the secondary and higher secondary level. The colleges are under the auspices of the Ministry of Defence and function under the direct supervision of the Adjutant General of the Bangladesh Army.

Mymensingh Girls' Cadet College was established in 1984 as the first cadet college for girls in Bangladesh alongside the nine existing cadet colleges for boys. Thereafter, the desire to increase the number of places for girls to promote more equal access to such an education combined with the introduction of commissioning female officers into the Defense Services in 2002 added more impetus to the issue. Finally, the government decided to establish two girls' cadet colleges at Feni and Joypurhat. A portion of an abandoned American airfield (constructed in 1942 during World War II) was chosen as the site for Feni Girls' Cadet College. The MES (Military Engineer Services) started work on the project on 29 June 2004. The student (called a cadet) selection procedure started in December 2005 and a nationwide competitive examination held. Initially, only a skeleton staff of military and civilian backgrounds were transferred from other cadet colleges while the recruitment process was undertaken. The college received the first batch of newly recruited employees in April 2006. The college opened for teaching on 15 April 2006 with 100 students (cadets), The Defence Secretary is the chairman of the Cadet College Governing Council while the Adjutant General, Bangladesh Army is the chairman of the Cadet College Governing Body. The Cadet College Section at the Adjutant General's Branch at Army Headquarters directly controls all the Cadet Colleges.

The principal of the college may be either a serving military officer of the army rank of Lieutenant Colonel, or navy or air force equivalent, or a senior officer from the Cadet College Service (promoted from the faculty members as per regulation). The vice principal is responsible for academic affairs. A military officer of the rank of major is posted as the adjutant who is the principal's assistant and is responsible for administrative matters. Senior faculty members appointed as a House Master look after the administration of the Cadet Hostel/ Boarding House. All faculty members are attached to a Houses and are called House Tutors. The accounts officer looks after the matters relating to accounts and budget.

Cadets join in the seventh grade on a six year course of study. The Higher Secondary Certificate(HSC) is leaving/ matriculation examination all pupils are working towards. Every intake consists of around fifty cadets divided into two groups (called forms) under the supervision of a Form Master. The Form Master is assisted by a Form Prefect selected from the cadets of that form. The college holds regular internal examinations to assess progress and to prepare them for the Board Examinations. The parents/guardians are regularly informed of a girls' academic performance and attitude. Additional classes are arranged for struggling students. However, a student showing consistent poor performance will be withdrawn from the college. The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations are held under the control of the Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, Comilla. All the examination dates are published in the Academic Calendar at the beginning of the academic year. A calendar year is usually divided into three terms. The medium of instruction is English. Special emphasis is given in communicative English, religious studies, general knowledge and current affairs. The first class of cadets presented for the SSC examinations in 2009 all achieved a GPA 5 (top grade) while 48/50 cadets achieved the designation Golden GPA (top grade with distinction).

The vice principal is in charge of the academic section and the faculty. The faculty comprises two academic departments science and humanities:
Humanities: English, Bangla, Islamic Studies, Civics, Economics, Geography, History, Arts and Crafts and Home Economics. Science: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Statistics and Computer Sciences. In addition, the senior most faculty member of each subject heads the department and supervises the curriculum of the respective subjects. Physical training, drill and musical band lessons are supervised by their respective instructors from the army (noncommissioned officers, usually corporal or sergeant).

Being a boarding school, the cadets stay on campus 24 hours a day. The college can accommodate 300 cadets in total. The academic year of the college is marked by many different events and Inter House Competitions. The events encourage confidence and sportsmanship within the cadets. All the various competitions Academic, Co Curricular and Extra Curricular award house points which go towards the overall Championship Trophy of the year, which is greatly cherished and honoured. This is hotly contested. The notable events of the college are:

Educational visits and excursions are arranged regularly.

National Days are observed. Victory Day (16 December) and Independence Day (26 March) start with Flag Raising Ceremony early in the morning. International Mother Language Day (21 February) starts with an early morning procession. Special cultural programs and discussions are organised highlighting the significance of the day. Special Days like Shob i Barat, Eid I Miladun Nabi are observed with special prayer and milad mahfil. College Raising Day is also observed with due enthusiasm.

The students are permitted to receive visitors once a month on scheduled Fridays during the term. The visit dates are communicated to the parents at the beginning of the year. Cadets can also make phone call to their parents as per a schedule. Letter writing home is compulsory every Friday.

Every House has a recreation room with a TV, newspapers, magazines and musical instruments. The House indoor games room has provision for table tennis, carrom, chess and scrabble. Cadets can also pass their time reading books in the House library. On selected Thursdays movie showings are arranged.

The bilingual Bengali and English 'Wall Magazine' is published regularly as part of inter house competition. Yearly Bengali and English periodicals named UTTARAN and INTREPID are also published where the cadets can express their mind on varied subjects.

Cadets are encouraged to participate in cultural activities. Every class presents a cultural night where the officers and faculty members are invited along with family. Houses also present a cultural programme at the end of each term. Music and dance lessons are organised for interested cadets. The creative potential of a novice cadet is discovered through a Talent Show programme. Special occasions (Bengali New Year, Rabindra, Nazrul anniversary etc.) are celebrated through cultural shows and discussion.

Feni Girls' Cadet College participated in the Inter Cadet College Literary and Music Meet (ICCLMM) 2006 at Pabna Cadet College within a month of its opening and took part in all the events. Cadet Afsana and Cadet Muslima became 2nd and 3rd in modern song and patriotic song respectively. The college joined ICCLMM 2007 at Comilla Cadet College and displayed a glorious performance in music events and reasonable performance in literature. The college achieved the Runner Up Trophy in Music losing out to Mymensingh Girls' Cadet College by 0.5 point and came 7th overall. Cadet Muslima sang a superb performance to become champion in the Country song and 2nd in Nazrul Song categories. Cadet Shamima achieved 2nd in Tagore Song. Cadet Rahat Ara and Cadet Nasiba came 3rd in the Extempore Speech Competition in Bengali and English respectively. At ICCLMM 2008 held at Sylhet Cadet College the college band was 2nd. Cadet Muslima achieved 3rd in Folk Song while Cadet Rahat Ara became 2nd in Classical Song. The college became Runner Up in first ever Inter Girls' Cadet College Sports Meet (IGCCSM) held in 2009 at Joypurhat Girls' Cadet College (JGCC). Cadet Colleges have a prestigious history in national competitions such as theNational TV Debate Competition (in Bengali), the newly introduced National Parliamentary Debate(in English)on Bangladesh Television and other quiz competitions at national level. Fenians are also working hard and preparing to match the pedigree of their sister cadet colleges

A reasonably well equipped 18 bed hospital functions on campus. It is looked after by the College Medical Officer, a serving Major/Captain from Army Medical Corps assisted by other medical staff. Minor ailments are treated here but for specialized or serious injury or illness the patients are referred to Feni Sadar Hospital/CMH Comilla. To guard against epidemics, vaccinations and inoculations are carried out as and when required. The cadets are weighed, measured and medically checked up and a proper health record is maintained of all cadets. The hospital also has an isolation ward for the segregation of patients with infectious diseases. In case a cadet needs an operation, all out efforts are made to inform the parents or guardians. However, if there is no time to inform them, such students are operated upon without any delay. The parents/guardians of cadets are required to submit a written permission for emergency, lifesaving surgery. In case of an emergency the authority rests with the principal.