Visakhapatnam: Once a symbol of well-rounded western education and the first English vernacular school between Chennai and Kolkata, in 1836 itself, the Canadian Baptist Mission (CBM) High School, in I Town area, now stands testimony to the government’s lakcadaisical attitude towards heritage structures.
Recalling history, Mr. Edward Paul, a heritage conservationist, explained, “Rev. Edward Porter and other representatives of the London Missionary Society came to India in 1805 itself and opened many local vernacular schools but it was William Bentick’s British’s English Educa-tion Act in 1835, which gave a boom to English education in India, paving way for establishment of the CBM School.”
“With requests from parents of Vizagapatam (the now Vizag), who want to foster fluency to their wards with the English language, the school was constructed with donations from generous zamindar families, including the Rajas of Vizianagaram. The school nurtured excellence in education for many generations,” Mr. Paul added. However, he asked the authorities to revive the past glory of the school.
It was London Missions School until it was handed over the Canadian Baptist Missionaries in 1910s, while the former society was shifting its base to Kadapa.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, the headmaster of CBM School complained about government’s apathy towards aided schools.
“Government had not filled the aided teacher posts and also not furnished the civil grants. This has been afflicting the fortune of the students and the school.”
“But despite fund crunch, we are striving hard for the all-round development of the students, including their academics.”
The school had produced many luminaries, including Alluri Sitarama Raju, Sri Sri, Gollapudi Maruthi Rao and D.V. Subba Rao. Vepa Kamesam of the school had elevated to the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.
The structural soundness of the school building is deteriorating with each passing day.
Chapa Kumar, a consumer activist and a student of the school in the 1960s, rued about the present conditions of his alma mater. “The government should aid the development of the school.”
