CHENNAI: As the school watchman rings the bell, children and teachers walk down the long arcaded corridors, which echo with the now rare Anglo-Indian accent. St George’s Anglo Indian School will soon turn 300, just 75 years short of the age of Madras itself.
Considered the oldest school in South Asia itself, the seeds of the school were sown in 1715 as the Male Orphan’s Asylum, an home for the orphans of British soldiers. From the British’s ‘Black Town’, the school was shifted to the Egmore Railway Station in 1872, and finally established itself as the Civil Orphan’s Asylum in its now location on Poonamallee High Road in 1904.
Today, the orphanage building— Conway House — still stands, with the structure mostly unchanged, but painted in lime green.
The renovation was done by architect Benny Kuriakose, and the architectural style is retained. “We try not to touch the style except for necessary repair work, so that the buildings can take us back to the colonial era,” says G K Francis, the school correspondent.
But they do not just live in the past, he says, adding that they constantly update their school activities to keep up with the times, with technology like smart classrooms and tablets. Most of the blocks in the school are single storeyed red buildings with wooden windows and quaint, green painted grills. The chapel, that stands in the middle of a large, overgrown lawn, appears straight out of an English village— a warm and homely exposed-brick building with steep tiled roofs and spires, the way it was centuries ago.
The 27-acre campus too has retained the property, except for a few grounds that it gave for the Chennai Metro Rail. “We hope they will include our school name in the station as it will come inside the school!” Francis adds.
“The orphanage now has 30 children. There used to be 300 when I joined,” says Isabel Manoharan, the oldest staff member, who joined the school in 1976.
“The Anglo-Indian community has now greatly reduced. Earlier, the orphanage was open only to Anglo-Indian kids, then we began taking kids whose father was Anglo-Indian. Now we take them if either of the parent belongs to the community,” she says. The orphanage inmates study in the school, which is government aided.
“There are around 600 Anglo-Indian students in the school today,” says N George, the headmaster.The school provides mid day meals to deserving students and the fees for the Anglo-Indian students is taken care of through government aid.
“We have been carrying forward the traditions of the schools,” says George. One of the long standing traditions is hockey, and the school has a strong team that takes part in National and State-level tournaments.
The tri-centenary celebrations are scheduled for April 2015 and the countdown has already begun, with events and competitions.
“Alumni from across the globe are expected at the event,” says Isabel.
The school will also be holding a carnival to join in celebrating Madras Day, with stalls, photo exhibitions and competitions. The proceeds from the event will be going to Adyar Cancer Institute.
