Fort Girls’ Mission High School, one of the oldest educational institutions in the city, is turning 150 next year. As a harbinger to the sesquicentennial anniversary, a year-long celebration in the school will kick off on Saturday, to be inaugurated by former Union Minister O Rajagopal on the occasion of the 149th anniversary celebrations, which will be inaugurated by Health Minister V S Sivakumar on the school premises.
As a prelude to the celebrations, a procession will be taken out on Friday starting from the school. The procession will take the route along Transport Bhavan, Sreekanteswaram park and finally conclude at the school itself.
The Church of England Zenana Mission Society (CEZMS) was established in Thiruvananthapuram in 1864 by Miss Blandford aimed at educating girls. With the permission of the then Maharaja of Travancore Ayilyam Thirunal Ramavarma and Divan T Madhava Rao, in a building called ‘Vadakke Kottaram’, a school, ‘Vadakke Kottaram Pallikoodam’, was started on November 3, 1864 to teach English to the girls in the palace. Diwan Madhava Rao’s daughter Kaveri Bhai and niece Ambu Bhai were among the early students of the school. The school later adopted the name Church of England Zenana Mission School.
In the rain havoc of 1913, the school building collapsed. With the help of the then King of Travancore, Sree Moolam Thirunal and Diwan T Madhava Rao, the building where the school functions now got erected in August 1914. In 1951, the school was elevated to the status of a girls’ high school and later came to be known as Fort Girls’ Mission High School.
As part of the year-long celebration, ‘guru vandanam’, alumni meet, cultural programmes, science quiz, medical camp, cultural meeting, counselling for parents, sports meet, photo exhibition chronicling the history of the school and a food festival are being planned. Many former students of the school have later made a mark in numerous fields such as administration, academics, literature, sports, arts and culture.