The Doon School

The Doon School (informally Doon) is a boys-only independent boarding school in Dehradun,
Uttarakhand, India. It was founded in 1935 by Satish Ranjan Das, a Kolkata lawyer.[1] He prevised a
school modelled on the British public school, but alive to Indian ambitions and desires.[1] The school's
first headmaster was an Englishman, Arthur E. Foot, who had spent nine years as a science master
at Eton College, England before coming to Doon, and returned to England right after India's
independence.[2] The former headmaster was Dr Peter McLaughlin and Present is Mathew ragget
who has occupied the post since 2016 and is the tenth headmaster of the school. He is a member
of Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.[3]

The school is a member of G20 Schools and Round Square group.[4][5] Doon houses roughly 500
pupils aged 13 to 18. Admission to the school is based on a competitive entrance examination and
an interview.[6][7][8] Every year in January and April, the school admits pupils aged 13 in Grade 7
(known as D-form) and aged 14 in Grade 8 (C-form) respectively.[9][10] Doon pupils take the Indian
Certificate of Secondary Education in tenth grade and are thereafter offered two strands for the final
two years: International Baccalaureate (IB) or Indian School Certificate (ISC). The school began
offering the IB curriculum only in 2006, before which all pupils had to sit the ISC examinations
in twelfth grade.

Doon has consistently been ranked the best residential school of India by media such as BBC, The
Times of India and Outlook.[11][12]Although the school has often been cited as 'Eton of India' by media
outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Financial Times, The Economist, The Daily
Telegraph and Forbes, it strongly eschews the label.[13][14][15][16][17] Doon remains a boys-only school
despite continued pressure from political leaders, including President Pratibha Patil, to
become coeducational.[18][19] Old boys of the school are commonly known as Doscos.[20] Although the
total number of Doscos is relatively small (estimated at 5,000 since the school's founding), they
include some of India's most prominent politicians, government officials and business leaders.[21] The
best known alumnus is former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Every year the RSIC is hosted by a different Round Square Region, on rotation. Within the
host region, and between the region and RS Worldwide, a discussion takes place as to the
number of host schools needed (usually two or three) and possible combinations.

Round Square Member Schools that would like to consider hosting will be part of this
dialogue and will then make a formal application to Round Square worldwide. The hosts are
appointed by a panel consisting of members of the Worldwide Management Team and
Board of Trustees

RSIC is considered by many to be the highlight of the Round Square year, and all Global
Member schools (every year) and Candidate schools (once in two years) are invited to bring
a delegation or up to two adults and either five or six students aged 16-18 (depending on
capacity) to embrace the conference experience. Selected Observer Schools are also
invited to attend to enjoy a taste of life as a Round Square School, as are all Honorary
Members of Round Square.

The RS International Conference is held over 6 to 7 days between mid-September (last two
weeks) and mid-October (first two weeks) each year and follows a structure traditional to
Round Square involving keynote speakers, barazas and activities that embrace both
adventure and service. The conference offers a programme designed for students and a
programme for adults, which is loaded towards the first two days of proceedings.