Alfred High School, a premium institute of Rajkot where Mahatma Gandhi studied, has been closed down and all the 150 students of the school here have been given their leaving certificates.
This was following terse notification from the Gujarat government in 2016 that a museum on Mahatma Gandhi worth Rs 12 crore was to be created at Alfred High School or Mohandas Gandhi High School and that the students would be shifted to Karansinhji High School.
However, there was adequate space at the school to carve out a museum and also run the school.
The students and teachers were given leaving certificates and asked to fend for themselves.
According to reports, the arrangements were being made to move the entire staff and students elsewhere by the end of this month.
The school was constructed during the British rule by political agent Kernel Singh and was the first English medium school in the region.
Originally called Rajkot English School, it was founded on October 17, 1853 and later became a full-fledged high school.
By 1868, it came to be known as Rajkot High School and was named Alfred High School in 1907.
After India's independence in 1947, the school was renamed the Mohandas Gandhi High School in honour of Mahatma Gandhi.
At age of 18, Mahatma Gandhi had graduated from this school in 1887.
