Netarhat Residential School was established on 15 November 1954, after the independence of India for the people of state of Bihar.

[1] The educationist Frederick Gordon Pearce, Jagadish Chandra Mather and Sachidanand Sinha played a vital role in making the plans for the school (or Netarhat Vidyalaya).

The school is situated far away from the busy life of town, on the plateau of Chhotanagpur, in the state of Jharkhand in India.

The guiding philosophy can be summarized by the following shloka in Sanskrit etched at the entrance of the main building of the school.

Netarhat (23°28'48"N 84°16'11"E) is located at an elevation of 1250 meters and is renowned for spectacular sunrises, sunsets, waterfalls, and beautiful flora and fauna.

Admission to the school, which is run by the government of Jharkhand (since inception it was run by the government of Bihar until the separation of the states) is given on the basis of three stages of examination: descriptive and multiple-choice written tests, psychological tests and personal interview.

Boys between 10 and 12 years of age who are living in the state can apply for admission on a prescribed form through Sub-divisional Education Officers.

The medium of instruction is English and the curriculum is based on the standards set by the Central Board of Secondary Education.

For the students of first three years (Class VII to IX) the school has developed its own curriculum with provision for compulsory training in Music, Fine Arts, Agriculture and Crafts.

The school has now been given the autonomous status and been named as Netarhat Vidyalaya Samiti under the control of Ministry of HRD, Govt.

The school has facilities for hobbies like wood-work, metal-work, aeromodelling, claymodelling, gardening, photography, painting and rifle training.

Seniors are addressed with ji suffixed to their names which is common way of showing respect in India among the Hindi speaking population.

The boarders follow a routine with provisions for swadhyaya(self-study), rest, P.T., games and sports, daily chores, television, group activities etc.