THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Government Model Boys Higher Secondary School, Thycaud, is on the doorsteps of a milestone. It is nearing its centenary year. The school is planning big celebrations and the reception committee for the grand event will be formed at the school assembly hall on Monday at 10.30 a.m. The school has invited the participation of former students in the year-long centenary celebrations (Contact: 0471-2323641).
This first English-Malayalam-Tamil medium school in Thiruvananthapuram boasts of an illustrious history. Its beginning was as a school in the compound where the St Joseph’s School is located now. Then, it was meant for the education of members of the Travancore royal family and other famous personalities.
In 1903, it was shifted to the present compound at Thycaud. The present grand main building constructed in European style came up in 1910, during the reign of Sree Mulam Thirunal.
The first principal of the school was Dr G.F. Clarke, an Englishman. In June 1911, a teachers’ training college started functioning along with the school. In 1924, the Travancore government decided to sanction an arts college here and it was established at the present college building under the school’s principal Rao Bahadur K.V. Rangaswamy Iyengar (However, in 1933, a separate principal was posted for the college).
The lower primary section, which included a nursery school functioning along with Model School, was shifted to the former British resident compound near the school compound in 1975. It was in June 1998 that Model School was upgraded to a higher secondary school.
Clarke’s Bungalow is a prestigious building of the school. The bungalow where the school’s first principal stayed has classrooms now. Boarding school and canteen, the other main buildings of the school, were meant for the students who came from outside the state. The spacious assembly hall, the work experience hall, the white building which has huge classrooms and the society building speak for the history of the school.
There was a time when it was almost impossible to get admission here. It was after interviewing the students who figured in the merit list that admission was done. The teachers were appointed from the panel of expert teachers prepared by the head of the school. The training college principal handed over the list to the deputy director of education and he appointed only the teachers from this list.
The alumni of the school include Senior Vice-President of World Bank Vinod Thomas, science and technology advisor to the US government and SSLC rank holder K.M.G. Krishnaram, world famous paediatrician and SSLC first rank holder in 1956 Dr Sabarinath, sportspersons like Wilson Cherian, Sreejith S. (chess) and Vinod Kumar, former union minister S. Krishnakumar, former state ministers like Babu Divakaran and K. Muraleedharan, K.B. Ganesh Kumar MLA, former chief secretaries G. Bhaskaran Nair, S. Ananthakrishnan, S. Padmakumar and M. Chandrabhanu, several IAS officials and literary figures like M.P. Appan and Sukumar.
Nalini Netto and Lizzy Jacob were students of the primary section. Mohanlal, Jagathy Sreekumar, Manianpillai Raju, Jagadeesh, Venu Nagavalli, Shaji Kailas, Priyadarshan, M.G. Sreekumar, G. Venugopal and M.G. Radhakrishnan too studied here.
The school has had many national and state award winning teachers. Sam Christudas, a teacher of the school, had won the Arjuna award. NCC Army and Navy wings are functioning here now, in addition to Red Cross, Scouts & Guides, quality circle unit etc.