Mar Basil Higher Secondary School, Kothamangalam
Mar Basil Higher Secondary School was built in the name of St.Yeldo Mar Baselious Bava. It is owned by the St. Thomas Church (cheriyapalli). The school has consistently managed to attain excellent scholastic performance over the years. That excellence has percolated into sports as well. Our recent successes in sports stand as a true testament to our commitment towards the society by creating individuals healthy in mind and body.
In 1935, an upper primary school near the St. Thomas Church, run by the State Government of Kerala was forced to close down owing to specific reasons. From then on the members of this church took it upon themselves to have an institution that would aim to uplift the educational and cultural face of Kothamangalam and its surrounding areas.
In 1936, with the help of Sir C.P Ramaswami (the Divan of Travancore under the rule of Shri Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma Maharaja), erstwhile Management Committee members, leaders and most importantly with the blessings of St.Yeldo Mar Baselious Bava, the school started functioning at the heart of Kothamangalam.
The school started with prepatory and first form then progressed towards high school. The Mar Basil Higher Secondary School can now proudly claim that over 3000 students have completed their schooling successfully.
Rev. Father. C.T.Kuriakose was the first headmaster and since then the school has steadily progressed in each and every related aspect. The Krishnan Nair Memorial Award was constituted to award high scoring students in SSLC and +2 from three high schools in Kothamanagalam. And for most of the years the students of Mar Basil have managed to win this coveted award. Inspired from the Santhosh Trophy (football) the school had initiated the Mar Basil Football Tournament. The tournament is celebrated like a festival in Kothamangalam.
The Silver Jubilee was held in 1961. The Late Mr. Philip Sir lead the event . The then Chief Minister of Kerala Sri Pattam Thanu Pillai inaugurated the jubilee. H.E. Geevarghese Mar Gregorius gave the Presidential address. The one month long program had an All India Exhibition which attracted a lot of people. In the memory of the event, an auditorium was built which was functioning till recently.
In 1996, the school celebrated Golden jubilee. The presidential address was given by the then education minister Shri T.M Jacob and Shri Noorudheen laid the foundation stone for the Mar Basil stadium .
Kothamangalam is known as the sports capital of Kerala and Mar Basil has played an active role in it. The school has stood second for many years in all of Kerala. The school has facilities to train around 100 students. It has a sports hostel and gymnasium for both boys and girls. Inorder to maintain international standards, the school has obtained the services of professional trainers and possess state of the art medical fitness check facilities etc.
The school has an excellent computer and science laboratory. It also has one of the best libraries among the schools in Kerala. In 2008-09, this school was the top most opted school by the candidates for the +2 admission. The students who passed out from Mar Basil continue to hold major positions in various parts of the world. The main strength of the school is its creative group of parents and teachers.
The school has been visited by the Pathiriyarkis Bava Ignathiyos, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Smt. Indira Gandhi, Sri. V.V. Giri, Shri Rajiv Gandhil and Shri H.D. Devegowda.
