St. Bede's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School | |
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Address | |
37 Santhome High Road Chennai, Tamil Nadu India |
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Coordinates | 13°2′3″N 80°16′42″E / 13.03417°N 80.27833°E |
Information | |
Motto | "Doce Nos Viam Bonam" |
Founded | 1907 |
Dean | Fr. John Peter Suvaiken, SDB |
Administrator | Fr. Thomas Mariaraj, SDB |
Rector | Rev. Fr. Arulanandam Perianayagam, SDB |
Nickname | St. Bede's |
Affiliation | Tamil Nadu State Board |
Website | http://www.stbedeschennai.org/ |
St. Bede's is a school in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. The school was started in 1907 to provide Catholic education for children of European and Anglo-Indian descent.
"Doce Nos Viam Bonam" which translates to "teach us the right way".
St. Bede’s School was born in 1907. When Lord Curzon announced the scheme of European education for the whole of India, His Lordship the Bishop of Mylapore, Dom Theotonius Emmanuel Rebeiro Vieire de Castro, decided to start a school separate from the San Thome High School for the benefit of the Anglo-Indian children. The “Leland’s Garden”, a building on the Santhome High Road which now forms part of the C.S.I. School for Deaf & Dumb, was rented to house the new school. These premises were taken over later for housing the present school for deaf and dumb.
On January 18, 1907, St Bede’s (then known as St. Bede’s European High School) was formally blessed and declared open by its reverend founder – His Lordship the Bishop of Mylapore - Dom Theotonius Emmanuel Rebeiro Vieira de Castro. It was only fitting that the founders chose Saint Bede, the historian and scholar of seventh century England, as patron of the new school. Saint Bede was born in England in 673 A.D. A man of encyclopedic knowledge, he became a monk and was ordained a priest. He spent his life teaching and writing. He died in 735 A.D.
The school began in 1907 with six classes: Standard II to Standard VII, and with Rev. Fr. M.I. Anacleto as its first Headmaster. Seventeen inmates of the San Thome Orphanage who were studying in the San Thome High School were brought on to the rolls of the new School. A new boarding (The St. Bede’s Boarding) was started with just three students. These, with the 35-day scholars, brought the strength of the school to 55 in the first year. The San Thome Orphanage (also started by the founder of St. Bede’s) and the St. Bede’s Boarding were always considered part of St. Bede’s School, as their inmates were pupils of the School. Rev. Fr. M.J. Salgado was the Director of the Boarding House and Rev. Fr. D’Costa was in charge of the Orphanage.
In 1908, when Fr Anacleto went on leave, Fr. Salgado took over as headmaster. The first high school class was begun in 1909 and science was introduced.
In 1909 the Bishop of Mylapore invited the Selesian Fathers to take over the San Thome Orphanage, which had been under the direct management of the mission of Mylapore. Rev. Fr. George Tomatis, S.D.B., who was then working in Tanjore, was called upon to shoulder the new responsibility as the Director. An exceptionally gifted man, Fr. Tomatis was a multi-linguist. As a boy, he had been in personal contact with Don Bosco and he had served the Saint’s mass for three years.