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150 and going strong
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St. John's School celebrates its sesquicentenary tomorrow
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Having begun as a school for drummer boys and musicians of the army, music was close to the culture of St. John's School.
IN THE 1800s, when Anglo-Indians started settling down in Bangalore's Cantonment area, education and worship were their major concerns. Created exclusively by the British government in 1809, the Cantonment was aimed at being disassociated with the happenings in Mysore and the East India Company. The Anglo-Indians, many of them descendants of British soldiers, did not find a prominent place among the staunch European pensioners and British soldiers who settled here. They weren't allowed into St. Mark's Church and their children were unwelcome in Cantonment schools.
Rev. Posnett, chaplain of St. Mark's, helped found St. John's School as a solution to this social predicament, 150 years ago on May 28, 1854. Today the school stands proud, home to a multicultural society, and with a rich history behind it.
The school didn't really start big. When the proposal did not find government support, Rev. Posnett raised money from soldiers to build a room 47 feet by 16 feet.
That was the first classroom, which was also used as a library and reading room for army bandsmen in the afternoon. In the mornings a screen divided the room into two — one part was a school for the very young, another for girls who were eight years and older. And on Sundays, the space was used for service. The school offered a prominent place for girls: by 1853, there were 52 girls and 16 boys in the school.
In the middle of the 19th Century, an unused quiet tract of land was granted by Maj. Gen. Sewell, Commandant of the division. The school stands on this very land today, skirted by St. John's Church Road and Promenade Road. Rev. Posnett then the collected Rs. 2,700 for two schoolrooms, a teacher's house and a reading room. The school buildings were ready in May 1854, and the reverend, acknowledging the role the army, gave the honour of founding the school to Maj. Gen. Sewell.
The priorities laid down in Rev. Posnett's experimental school influenced the course of the history of not just the school, but of Bangalore Cantonment itself, say former students and teachers. "The idea of an English education for the less fortunate was a contrast to the thinking elsewhere in India, where it was the preserve of the elite. In Bangalore Cantonment it was offered across a much wider spectrum."
Catching 'em young was a priority. In 1887, there were more than three times as many students in primary schools in Bangalore Cantonment as there were in secondary schools. But by 1894, the picture was reversed.
This socially sensitive approach to education, rather than focus on academics alone, meant the school grew at its own pace. It was in 1901, 47 years after the school started, that it became a middle school.
In post-independent India, the Anglo-Indian community started moving away from the Cantonment. The school had to re-invent itself to reach out to the others in the Cantonment too. As the Cantonment itself became more integrated with the rest of the city, St. John's had to offer its students an education that would help them cope with a new city.
In 1962, it finally became a high school with W.J. Satur as its first Principal.
As the school consolidated its existence, it became clear that the Anglo-Indian traditions it had developed over a century ago still remained relevant despite the very different social milieu. By 1979, in each of its classes of 40, there were 10 different mother tongues; by 1982, only 80 of its 1,500 students were from the Anglo-Indian community.
Throughout its history, military tradition ran high in the school. The cenotaph in front of the St. John's Church is a memorial for soldiers, members and perhaps even students from St. John's who died in the First World War.
Having begun as a school for drummer boys and musicians of the army, music had been very close to the culture of St. John's. Organised sport, especially athletics, became prominent.
The school opened with a religious service on May 28, 1854 and on May 28, 2004, old students, present-day students, staff and well-wishers will hold a thanksgiving service to mark the sesquicentennial anniversary.
Says Rani Rajkumar, Principal: "After August, we plan to have an old students' get together and a musical night."
(The article was compiled by old students and staff of St. John's School.)
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