Udyogamandal School

Udyogamandal School is a school for ages Kindergarten to Grade 12 located in Udyogamandal, Eloor, Kochi, India. It was established in 1965 by the management of Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT), the largest public sector firm in Kerala. It was established with the intention of providing education to the children of FACT employees. Of late, it has been taken over by the MES group. Udyogamandal School is affiliated to the ICSE board, New Delhi.

MES Udyogamandal School
Location
FACT Township, Udyogamandal, Ernakulam District, Kerala India
Information
Type	Public
Established	1965
School district	Ernakulam, Kerala, India
Principal	Babu Varghese
Staff	15
Faculty	30
Grades	1-12
Number of students	750
Color(s)	Grey and white
Affiliation	ICSE

The school is located in a campus owned by FACT Ltd. in Eloor in Ernakulam District. The school is currently headed by the Principal Mr. Babu Varghese. The school has state-of-the-art laboratory facilities for Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Computer Science. The co-curricular facilities available in the school include one basketball court, two large playing fields used for cricket and football (referred to by the students as the upper and lower grounds) a children's park etc. Udyogamandal School was a non-profit institution which had been instituted with the intention of providing quality education to the wards of FACT employees free-of-cost.

History

The school started off in a small building where the Udyogamandal nursery currently functions. It was started in 1968. The experiment of running the infant Udyogamandal School was started under the guidance of Mrs. Rajalakshmy Nair with five teachers, Mrs. Sarada G. Nayar, Mrs. Vera Morris, Mrs. Lily Anne Abraham, Mrs. Alice Mathew and Ms. Priscilla Francis (now Mrs. Priscilla Thomas). Mrs. R. Nayar came from Blue Mountain School. Later on, it was moved to a new building where it functions currently. The 1990s, usually referred to as the golden era in the history of the school, saw the school bagging a lot of top honours in both the curricular and co-curricular arena.

Objectives

The objectives of the school as laid down by the management and published elsewhere are

• To promote the total development of students so as to make them fully human, fully Indian and truly modern.
• To make them men and women of character devoted to unselfish service of their fellow men.
• To make them leaders and agents of needed social changes in the society.
• To develop all their innate talents and to encourage them to strive towards excellence in every field.

List of Principals

• Dr. K N P Nair (1969 to 1973)

Mr. Nair, came from the Blue Mountain School, Ootacamund in January 1969 to lay the foundation for a permanent and popular edifice of Kerala in the field of education , the Udyogamandal School. The new building was completed and High school section was shifted there , which had all the requisite for a standard school. He completed the herculean task of getting the recognition from the ISC Board and affiliation to ISC Examination in September 1971. After inspection by A.E.T Barrow, Secretary of ISC council and MP the school was granted the facility of an examination center. Mrs. S.C Fernandez from Don Hill School , Darjeeling was brought to reorganize the Junior School. Housewise sports activities were organised. Various Societies like Debating Society were organised.

• Dr. A S N Sinha (1974 to 1980)

Dr. Sinha joined School as Vice Principal in 1971 when the senior teacher Mr. Baljit Singh Mallik left. Became Principal on 20-1-1973. He was responsible for the partial completion of the first floor to accommodate junior school in the new building. The first batch of ISC (11yr) appeared for the Exam under his Vice Principalship. Student council system and Prefect system were introduced to develop leadership qualities in students. Merit awards were introduced to teachers.

• Dr. Gilbert Bose (1980 to 1982)

Mr. Bose Believed in 'quality and not quantity'. He found appropriate opportunities for students to learn from live experiences. Sports and games, swimming, Electronics, and Philately were encouraged under his personal attention. He added various equipments to the school to improve the facilities of the school.

• Dr. C J Joseph (1983 to 2000)

He joined the school in 1983. He is a PhD in 'Minor Black novelists'. Responsible for introducing the +2 system with science stream. Instrumental in remodelling the school with lawns, park, basketball courts etc. The Assembly hall and Computer Room were valuable assets. Glass boards were put in most of the classes. Teaching aids like T.V, V.C.R., etc were added. School now boasts of a full-fledged orchestra and separate band troupes for boys and girls. Debating club, Public Speaking Club, Quiz club, Interact club, Science club and Mathematics club were started during his tenure due to his efforts. Teacher's orientation day was introduced to lay down activities in the beginning of the school year. Erewon Thinking programme to enrich the teaching of English was introduced in the middle section. Most Representative Student award and Kalathilakam award based on certain accepted norms were instituted in his time. 10+2 students as a part of their SUPW organised very successfully an inter-school meet 'Indradhanush' which has gone on to become an annual event that continued for years. His tenure at the helm of the school is considered by many as the Golden Era in the history of the school as he was responsible for many of the radical reforms including reducing teaching staff interference in cultural activities.

• Mr. Clarence Pandey (2000 to 2002)

Mr. Clarence Pandey hails from Uttar Pradesh and was formerly the principal of the most prestigious De Nobili School in Chandrapura, Bihar. From the year 1976, he worked in different capacities as teacher, Vice Principal and Principal in the same institution. At the time of his leaving the institution to join Udyogamandal school, he was holding the post of Principal for two schools in the same campus - both the state board and ISC schools sponsored by Damodar Valley Corporation.

• Mr. Gopinathan Nair (2002 to 2009)

Mr. Gopinathan Nair was formerly the headmaster of the FACT High School. He was noted for his teaching capabilities and led FACT High School to great heights during his tenure. After his retirement from service, he was offered the post of Principal in Udyogamandal School when the Muslim Educational Society (MES) took over the management of the school.

• Mr Babu Varghese(2009-present)

Mr. Babu Varghese was a geography teacher in the school when he was chosen for the job following Mr. Gopinathan Nair stepping down. He is a member of the All-India ICSE schools Union and served as the vice-principal of the school during the tenure of Mr. Gopinathan Nair.

Criticism

Despite general positive opinions from parents about the functioning of the school,there has also been few notable controversies ,at least few parents report that there has been failure in the implementation of "The objectives" of the school as laid down by the management and published in the school diary.There had been several instances of misbehavior among students. school pranksters had cause considerable damage to school property.

Contact information

Mr. Babu Varghese, Principal. Ph: [phone]

Mrs. Sherly Antony, Teacher-in-Charge. Ph: [phone]

References

• Kochi: Udyogamandal School, Udyogamandal, The Hindu newspaper