Saturday, December 03, 2005

All Saints High School in select group

This year is special for my school ( All Saints High School , Hyderabad) is into its 150th year of existence
Apparently only 20 schools in India can boast of such a long history.


All Saints High School in select group:

STANDING TALL: All Saints High School, one of the 20 oldest institutions in the country, has an impeccable record to boast of.

HYDERABAD: What is common between the wristy maestro Mohammed Azharuddin, `chicha' of Hyderabad cricket Abid Ali, suave bureaucrat Shravan Kumar gentleman officer M. Mahender Reddy, Marxists' most visible face Sitaram Yechury and popular English professor Isaac Sequeira?

They all had their grounding in All Saints High School, the grand old institution of Hyderabad that is all set to celebrate 150 years of its existence. It could now be counted among the select group of 20 schools in the country to cross this important sesquicentenary milestone.

"It is the school that made me what I am today," says Prof. Sequeira with pride. A member of Class of 1947, he has this rare honour of participating in the school's centenary celebrations in 1955 as a teacher. It was in this year that the school branched out to Little Flower, St. Paul's and St. Mark's Boys Town.

Set up in 1855 by Rt Rev. Daniel Murphy, the Vicar Apostolic of Hyderabad, its earliest name was the College of All Hallows, his alma mater in Ireland. The school at that time was meant for the English and Anglo-Indian boys and the wards of the Nizam's army. Rt. Rev. Mgr Caprioti was the first Rector.

When it was started 150 years ago, the school campus was not as sprawling as it is now. Nor the famous playground where the likes of Azharuddin and Venkatpathy Raju picked up the rudiments of cricket. .... moved to three different buildings before acquiring the present site overlooking Gunfoundry in 1874. The management of the school was taken over by the Brothers of St. Gabriel in 1932, the Order best known for promoting the cause of education.

First Indian Rector

The first Indian Rector was Rev. Bro. M. Paul and he developed it as one of the best secondary schools in the then Nizam's dominion. "That was the time when all the top ranks in the dominion were bagged by our school. Equal emphasis was laid on co-curricular activities," reminisces Prof. Sequeira, also the president of the All Saints Old Boys Association. "I got the Sturge scholarship for topping in arts and history," remembers Mr. Shravan Kumar, former Chief Secretary.

After the merger of Hyderabad State into the Indian Union, the Rector who dominated the era was Brother John of God.

He presided over the changing destiny of the school from its somewhat elitist leanings to a more egalitarian outlook. A sesquicentenary celebrations committee headed by Rector Rev. Bro. M. A. George has lined up yearlong programmes beginning November 12.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/11/10/stories/2005111017220200.htm


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