Royal College Curepipe


The Royal College Curepipe is the most prestigious secondary school in Mauritius, with high admission standards. Since 1791 it has been regarded as a school of excellence and started to build a consistent laureateship from the 1800s and now has 207 years of laureateship.
In the past, it only admitted boys with the best results at the Certificate of Primary Education exams, based on national rankings. RCC has a tradition of Higher School Certificate laureates who compete for state scholarships for tertiary studies abroad.
Following education system reforms and the introduction of nine year schooling, RCC was converted into an Academy in 2021. It became a co-education institution, admitting the best-performing male and female students of the National Certificate of Education who have obtained 8 aggregates.

History

The Royal College Curepipe is the oldest educational institutions of the Republic of Mauritius. The history of the Royal College Curepipe stretches back to 1791 when the predecessor of the Royal College of Curepipe, the Collège National also known as the Collège Colonial was founded in Port Louis. It was reserved for the children of the privileged classes of that area, and the college was known as École Centrale in 1800, before taking that of Lycée Colonial from 1803 to 1810 during the final years of the French rule in Mauritius. The Lycée Colonial was a boarding school and military training was introduced. For six months after the British conquest in 1810, the Lycée Colonial was used as a military hospital in Port Louis. In 1813 the name of the college was changed by a decree of Governor Sir Robert Farquhar, and became the Royal College. The main driver for relocating the college from Port-Louis to Curepipe was the deadly epidemic of 1899 which was most prevalent in the warmer and humid capital city. In 1912 the foundation stone of the present building in Curepipe was finally laid by Director of Public Works. The design was inspired by the Buckingham Palace of London. The present building was inaugurated in 1914.

Notable alumni

NameRole
France AntelmeBroker, trader, World War II hero, executed by Germans, Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur
Roshi BhadainLawyer, accountant and former minister
Charles-Édouard Brown-SéquardMedical practitioner, physiologist and neurologist, professor at Royal de France
Dayendranath BurrenchobayLaureate, Electrical Engineer, Knight of British Empire, Permanent Secretary, Governor General
Jayen CuttareeScientist, lawyer, Minister of Labour, Housing and Industry
Maurice CuréLaureate, Medical practitioner, trade unionist, founder of Mauritius Labour Party, Member of Legislative Council
W. H. Lionel CoxLaureate, Chief Judge
Ajay DabyLawyer and Speaker of Parliament
Gaëtan DuvalBarrister, Lord Mayor, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism, Knight of British Empire
Ashvin DwarkaNotary, writer
Aqiil GopeeLaureate, writer
Idrice GoumanyHeroic medical doctor who managed a quarantine center during a smallpox epidemic
Pravind JugnauthFormer Prime Minister
Jean MargéotBishop and first Mauritian Cardinal
Prem NababsingDeputy Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and Ambassador in France
Raman OsmanGovernor-General
Navin RamgoolamMedical practitioner, lawyer, Prime Minister
Seewoosagur RamgoolamMedical practitioner, first Prime Minister and Governor-General, Knight of British Empire
Droopnath RamphulJudge of Supreme Court
Guy RozemontTrade unionist and member of Legislative Council
Yiagadeesen SamyProfessor and school director
Renganaden SeeneevassenLawyer and former minister
Harry TirvengadumManaging Director of Air Mauritius
Gaston LabatPhysician and early pioneer of regional anesthesia