A school that made childhood an experience to cherish

Mylapore’s own: P.S. High School was opened in 1905. It operated from a building at the junction of North and West Mada Streets before moving to its current premises
| Photo Credit: AKHILA EASWARAN

An act of charity by Pennathur Subramania Iyer, born in 1860 at Chittoor in North Arcot, has helped generations to get educated. Subramania Iyer, a solicitor, earned a sizeable fortune. He bequeathed it to a charity in 1899, months before his death. Five years after his death, the Pennathur Subramaniam Trust was established. Its executive committee took over the management of a primary school and a middle school. Subsequently the Trust started a school to ensure that the students of the two schools could continue higher education in the locality. Thus P.S. High School was established with 300 students on January 13, 1905. It operated from a building at the junction of North and West Mada Streets before moving to its current premises in the 1920s.

The school’s roll of honour is lengthy: philosopher J. Krishnamurthy, former Chief Minister M. Bakthavatsalam, former United Nations Under-Secretary Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan, Veena maestro S. Balachander, cricketer S. Venkatraghavan, former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission R. Chidambaram, journalists ‘Cho’ S. Ramaswamy, G. Narasimhan and G. Kasturi, and industrialist M.A. Chidambaram.

Etched in memory

Group Captain (retd.) R. Vijayakumar, who is the executive director of Madras Management Association, graduated from the school in the 1960s. He says, “Teachers encouraged us to participate in the NCC camps. The image of Goddess Saraswathi on top of the building is etched in memory. As a school for children of Mylapore, it was normal for all to enjoy the festivities at the Kapaleeswarar temple. The teachers did not force us to study.” M.S. Shanmugam, secretary to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who was a student from 1977 to 1983, says, “I studied in Tamil medium for a fee of ₹20 a year. I had a beautiful childhood because of the school. There was no pressure to study. The teachers’ contribution played a major role. They never beat students and encouraged what we were good at. It was at this school that I realised that I loved Economics,” he says. He has vivid memories of the library. “We used to read Sportstar at the library. During crafts class, we used to make threads using thakli (spindle).”

‘Home away from home’

For the former chairman and managing director of Indian Bank, M.S. Sundararajan, who studied at the school from 1960 to 1965, it was “a home away from home”. He remembers the school for its “caring teachers” who inculcated values in students and a disciplinarian Principal. “In those days, a four-language formula was followed. They taught us Sanskrit and Hindi, apart from English and Tamil,” he said.

C.V. Krishnan, alumnus and secretary of P.S. Educational Society, says, “The emphasis is now on ensuring the highest quality education. The school lays stress on public service with student participation in the NCC, road safety patrol, and the Red Cross. Education is free and no tuition fee is levied. We are ably supported by the alumni and members of the public. We are a CSR-recognised institution. There are about 870 students from Classes VI-XII.”