At Vana Vani Matriculation Higher Secondary School on IIT-Madras campus, there is much jubilation as the institution recently celebrated its Golden Jubilee. The walls have been given a fresh coat of lime-green, and classes are in full swing. True to the school’s logo of a banyan with its ever-growing aerial roots, large old banyans engulf the campus in their shade.
Growing strong
Started in 1963 with 52 students as an ICSE primary school for children of staff living on the campus, it has grown into a matriculation school with 1,850 students, following State Board syllabus. “Now, the school caters to the needs of children in and around the campus, Adyar and Velachery,” says Kaveri Padmanabhan, the principal. “We have students from different social strata in our school. And because we’re on IIT campus, we have access to a lot of their resources. We take the students on visits to different departments, and professors from the college come here for guest lectures as well.”
The Golden Jubilee was celebrated along with the Alumni association and there was year-long events leading up to it. “We had our special investiture last year and got an alumnus to preside over it. Then there was our inter-school cultural fest Vanfest,” says Kaveri. “For the Golden Jubilee, we hosted a carnival, whose proceed went towards improving the school infrastructure. We are specifically working on improving the labs and the library.”
The school now also has a new primary block that will accommodate a music room. “We’ve always had music in our curriculum, but never a place for the classes. We’ll be working on improving this room and bringing in the facilities it needs. Our primary school, on the other hand, has always had many special programmes. We have tie-ups with organisations such as Karadi Path to help them gain exposure.”
