Many people may not be aware that the first educational institution in India started with a view to imparting the English language and western-style education was in the Southern state of Kerala. To day, this state has the highest literacy rate in this country. The institution was also the first arts college in this country. CMC college is an interesting institution steeped in history. It is a pioneering college that allowed the girls to study in the institution for the first time. Patronized by none other than Thomas Manroe, a great and humane British administrator, this institution was the first one to publish a college Magazine in the native language - Malayalam. It was in 1800 Ft. William college was started in Kolkata which, however, was closed in 1835. It was followed by the Hindu College, Kolkata in 1817 (now Presidency College).
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| CMC college, Kottayamcollegedunia.com |
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| CMC college , Kottayam collegedunia.com |
CMS College in Kottayam Town was was founded by the Church Missionary Society of England, in 1817. This part
of Kerala was in the princely state of Travancore then and there had
been no institution to teach the English language in this state. The
first college in the princely state of Travancore to teach western oriented education without compromising on Indian subjects and culture
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CMC college, Kottayam (1817), Physic dept. en.wikipedia.org
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In Wikipedia, it is mentioned that Scott Christian College Nagercoil was the first one in the Princely state. Now Nagarcoil is in the State of Tamil Nadu. In the village of Myladi, near Nagarcoil in 1809 the college began functioning under the guidance of one the Rev. William Tobias Ringeltaube, the pioneering missionary of the London Missionary Society in South Travancore. This Central School or Seminary was shifted to Nagercoil in 1818. In the
early years of the Old Seminary (Orthodox Pazhaya Seminary), the
curriculum gave importance to languages and hence included the study of
Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Mathematics, History, and Geography besides
English, Malayalam, Sanskrit, and Syriac. In 1838, the college moved to
a new location a wooded hilly area on the scenic Western Ghat.
In 1860
the seminary became a college at the initiative of the Rev. Dr James
Duthie. English Resident Thomas Manroe (Gov. of Madras Presidency) patronized
the college and its activities. Apart from English, Greek and Latin were
also taught.
In 1834 a new school (based on the model of (CMC) was started at Trivandrum by Mr. Roberts, an English educationist of
(LMS) at the invitation of Travancore Maharaja who was much impressed
when he visited the Scott College in Nagarcoil earlier. This school
became a University college. The Rev. Benjamin Bailey became the Principal of what was then known as CMC. He was a maverick and a legendary figure in education and he took the honor of publishing Malayalam to English and English to Malayalam dictionaries which were quite helpful to the students and people. In 1864 a the college ran a magazine in Malayalam with encouragement from the then principal Richard Collins in whose name a library is functioning there. By the bye, room no 52, it is believed, is the oldest one in the complex. The college got affiliated to Madras university later.
It is quite interesting to note the college gave free and quality education to all its students until 1855, when the fee of one Rupee per month per student was collected. In 1855 the college prepared the students for the Matriculation exam. In 1870 the student strength was barely 129. Classes were started in 1890 for the FA exam - 2 year program and the first batch appeared for the FA exam in 1892. It was only after 1938 girls were allowed to study in the college. Actually way back in 1913 the college took girls, for unknown reasons, admission to girls was suspended five yeas later.
C.A.Thomas was the first Indian to hold the position of the principal of this venerated institution. Since then, the growth of this historical institution has been phenomenal. What started out as a small institution by the Church Missionary Society of England in 1917, has now become one of leading institutions in Kerala with five star status from National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) since 1999.
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