The first President of India, His Excellency Dr. Rajendra Prasad, in the presence of His Highness Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia, Her Highness Maharani Vijaya Raje Scindia and first lady Mrs. Rajvanshi Devi Prasad, officially declared Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya open. The year was 1956. The group photograph taken on this occasion shows about 40 students, including some boys and day scholars, and an impressive strength of about a dozen teachers. The admissions Register lists the two older Scindia Princesses, Padma (Akka) Raje and her younger sister, Usha Raje as the first two students to enroll on 1 August 1956 when classes started, followed by 29 others. Of the total of 31, only six were boarders. Two grand-daughters of President Rajendra Prasad, Shobha and Padma, were also among the earliest students. In 1956 when SKV, as the school is fondly known, was established, premier all-girls' boarding schools were restricted primarily to the convents run by Irish or German nuns. In post-independence India, education for girls entered a new phase. It was to meet this need for an all-rounded Indian education stressing on Indian values, religions and culture, that H H Maharani Vijaya Raje Scindia founded Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya. It automatically became the sister institution to The Scindia School for boys, founded in 1897 by HH Maharaja Madhavrao Jayajirao Scindia in the Fort above the historic city of Gwalior. Her Highness Vijaya Raje Scindia once said, " I felt the Indian woman was drifting away from her valuable heritage. The progress of science along with industrialization it brought, changed the old pattern of family life. Because of economic conditions, Indian women had to come out, (and) also add to the family income. I believe in the old adage, 'the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world'. I wanted a school to strengthen those hands. My dream was to start a school which would serve both these ends"