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Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Ganapath Govt HS turns 120

KOZHIKODE: ‘Small opportunities are often the beginning of the great enterprises.’

When Greek orator Demosthenes said so, he might not have thought that a high school teacher in Kozhikode would go by it later in the 19th century.

One can easily sum up the growth of Chalappuram Government Ganapath Boys High School, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary on Monday, with that famous quote of Demosthenes.

It was in 1886, Ganapath Rao, a teacher of Zamorin’s High School, started a school on his own compound. In contrast to the prevailing system when a section of the society was denied the right to have formal education, the school was open to all sections of the society.

This bold step contributed immensely in revolutionising the education sector in the state and the school played an important role in contributing many prominent personalities to the nation. It was alma mater to eminent statesman V K Krishna Menon, noted writers Sanjayan, S K Pottekkatt, Thayattu Sankaran and N P Mohammed.

After Ganapath Rao decided to renounce materialistic life, his son Sarvotham Rao took over. Following the demise of Ganapath Rao, Sarvotham named the school after his father. Under Sarvotham Rao, the Malabar Educational Society was formed and Ganapath high schools were started at Kallayi and Feroke.

Besides, the society took over the charge of Devdhar High School in Tanur and Sarvajana High School in Wayanad. The school kept its door open for girls in 1932.

The school was taken over by the Government in 1957 and a special school for girls was established in 1961. Though it has completed 120 years, there are still many a task to be completed and the government is blamed for depriving the school of the basic facilities and not taking any steps to renovate the age-old buildings.

Speaker K.Radhakrishnan will lay the foundation stone for the new building of the school and inaugurate the 120th anniversary celebration. Mayor M.Bhaskar-an, MLAs P.M.A.Salam and A.Pradeep-kumar will attend the function.

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