75 years of education in a nutshell

The Hindu

19-07-2025

'One of the early Matriculation schools in Madras'
I am from the first batch of students (1950) who went to Rosary Matriculation School. My sister was studying at St. Raphael's Girls School, which followed Tamil medium of instruction, and the nuns asked my father to enrol me with Rosary as it had just opened. It was kind of trendy to study in a matriculation school then and there were only four such schools for girls in Madras of those times — Sacred Heart, Good Shepherd and CSI Ewarts being the others. Most of our school years were spent on the campus at Kutchery Road, and for a while we also shared space with Stella Matutina College of Education.
Students of all matriculation schools had to come to Lady Willingdon College to write their exams and it was customary to be taken to St. Thomas Mount before appearing for the examination. Our results were displayed on the Madras University's big notice board and parents would troop in early in the morning to see their children's marks.
There are many life lessons that I have learnt from the school; and picked up many skills too, including communication skills that I developed thanks to Ms. Paul (English teacher) and principal Mother Teresa Xavier who was strict but kind at heart. Every time I recite my sloka, I am reminded of the Sanskrit master.
Dr. Swarnalatha Selvaraju is 79 years old and lives in Malaysia
'Rosary used to be a co-educational institution'
Now, one would automatically associate Rosary with education for girls, but in its early years until Fifth Form this was a co-educational institution. I have shared bench with boys as my classmates. While a majority of the staff were women, Sanskrit and Tamil subjects were handled by two male teachers.
Among the gains from studying at this institution are: a disciplined approach to life and work and a whole lot of skills including good spoken English.
The sisters were particular about how we dressed to school, and plays and dance drama brought out histrionic talent in many of us. We had two houses — Loretto and Fatima, the former identified by pink and the latter, blue. Pinafores and half saris were worn as uniform.
I was once made the 'bank agent', an activity where we collected money for certain occasions and learnt how to maintain an account. We used to have cooking sessions, needle work and sewing classes under domestic science.
Whatever we learnt at school contributed to our holistic development.
Vanamala Parthasarathy is a multilingual scholar of Vaishnavism and lives in Bengaluru. She is from the 1958 batch of the school.
'Those classes kindled my interest in nutrition'
Classes in household arts or home science, as it was later called, kindled my interest in nutrition and dietetics and I would go on to build a career in that discipline.
I still remember how we were taught to make ice cream in the pantry. The cycle rickshaw was our favourite mode of transport to school.
Saroja Raghavan retired as head of department of Dr. Mohan Diabetes Specialities Centre in Gopalapuram
'Rosary and its equally illustrious neighbours'
Much before Santhome High Road was lined with schools, the tram line ran from Luz Church Road to Santhome. Many working professionals used this network to head to Parrys. Later, for many Mylaporeans, this road would gain in prominence for the row of schools run by Christian organisations. St. Raphael's was one of the oldest schools. Sometimes, one would find students moving from one school to another on the same road. Once they completed middle school at Montfort School, they would move to the next building, which would be Santhome High School. And students of Dominic Savio would join St. Bedes.
My two sisters pursued their school education in Santhome, one studying at St. Raphael's and the other at Rosary. Rosary operated a school bus, a novelty in those times. My elder sister, Late Meenakshi Subramanian served as chemistry teacher at Rosary and many of her students including 'Apollo sisters' and retired Judge Prabha Sridevan were in touch with her.
So strict were the nuns that yesteryear actor and an old student of the school L. Vijayalakshmi was not permitted to sit for the matric university exam as she did not attend the selection exam.
Where the present Rosary Matriculation School is, Stella Maris College used to be before it moved to Cathedral Road in the late 50s.
K.R. Jambunathan is a long time resident of Mylapore and has been chronicling hidden stories of the neighbourhood