Udyogamandal School

MES Udyogamandal School
File:Udlschool.jpg
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

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 to providing education to the children of FACT employees. It has been taken over by the MES group. Udyogamandal School is affiliated to the ICSE board, New Delhi.

The school is located on a campus owned by FACT. The school is headed by the Principal Mr. Babu Varghese. The school has laboratory facilities for Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Computer Science. The co-curricular facilities include one basketball court, two large playing fields used for cricket and football (referred to by the students as the upper and lower grounds) and a children's park.

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.

List of Principals

• Dr. K N P Nair (1969 to 1973)

Mr. Nair came from the Blue Mountain School, Ootacamund in January 1969. The new building was completed and High school section was shifted there. He completed the task of getting 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.

• 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.

• Dr. Gilbert Bose (1980 to 1982)

Mr. Bose Believed in 'quality and not quantity'. Sports and games, swimming, Electronics, and Philately were encouraged under his personal attention.

• Dr. C J Joseph (1983 to 2000)

He joined the school in 1983. 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. His tenure 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 De Nobili School in Chandrapura, Bihar. From 1976, he worked 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. 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.

References

• Kochi: Udyogamandal School, Udyogamandal, The Hindu newspaper