Century-old school in Mayiladuthurai awaits funds for redevelopment

Mayiladuthurai's 123-yr-old Diwan Bahadur T. Rengachariar National Higher Secondary School, known for providing free quality education to rural students, faces fund crunch in its reconstruction works. Formerly an elementary school, it was upgraded in 1956 & 1978. 68 classrooms, labs, libraries, smart classrooms, and other facilities are being built on 57,000 sq ft of land. Fund crunch has hindered progress, and alumni are being requested to contribute. Redevelopment is crucial for students from 40+ villages. District admin exploring MPLADS funds.

Fund crunch has hit the progress of reconstruction works of the 123-year-old Diwan Bahadur T. Rengachariar National Higher Secondary School in Mayiladuthurai, known for its legacy of providing quality education to students from rural areas at free of cost.

Formerly referred to as National High School, it was founded as an elementary school by philanthropist Komal Srinivasa Raghava Iyengar in 1901. Diwan Bahadur T. Rengachariar donated a sum of money for constructing the school, which was upgraded as a High School in 1956 and as a Higher Secondary School in 1978.

Since then, the government-aided school, run by D.B.T.R National Trust, has been offering courses in Tamil and English medium under the Tamil Nadu State Board syllabus to more than 3,000 students a year at free of cost, said S. Pushpavalli, former Headmistress of the school.

The buildings constructed 70 years ago on Mahadhana Street became dilapidated and the school management had decided to demolish and reconstruct the school buildings with state-of-art facilities, said R. Kanchinathan, headmaster of the school. Construction of 68 classrooms, laboratories, libraries, and smart classrooms, besides other infrastructure such as toilet and escalator facilities on 57,000 sq ft of land owned by the trust began a year ago and attained 70% progress.

Soo. Vijaikumar, correspondent, said the management had reached out to the former faculties and alumni for financial assistance and managed to pool ₹ 8.5 crore to construct the four-storey building. Meanwhile, fund crunch hits further progress in construction works, he said and appealed to the alumni to come forward and contribute to rebuild the school.

Redevelopment of the school is crucial for students from more than 40 villages surrounding Mayiladuthurai town, said G. Vasudevan, an alumnus and former Head of the Department (Chemistry), A.V.C College.

When contacted, Collector AP. Mahabharathi told The Hindu since there was no provision to directly contribute for infrastructure upgradation of government-aided schools, the district administration would explore the possibilities of utilising funds under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme.