150-Year-Old Ganapathi High School in City to SHUT DOWN & SHIFTED to Kotekar Campus
Mangaluru: While it is common to read and hear that many government-run schools/Colleges are getting closed due to lack of admissions and other reasons, but rarely see any schools/colleges managed by Trusts/Societies/Private firms shutting or shifting. However, in a poignant development, Ganapathy High School, located on Ganapathi High School (GHS) Road, which had borne that name for decades, and is one of the city’s oldest and most esteemed educational institutions, has made the heart-wrenching decision to cease operations indefinitely. The management has decided to transfer its primary, secondary, and high school facilities to its Kotekar campus, in the outskirts of the City starting next academic year.
Ganapathi High School, Mangaluru started in the year 1870 is closing down
The institution, overseen by the Saraswat Education Society, has stood as a beacon of learning for over 150 years, but the stark reality of declining enrolment as well as the need for academic upgrading has compelled the management to make this sombre announcement. The talks on the closure of the institution have been ongoing since 2017, and finally, it has decided to shut down its operations next academic year. The school is shifted to the Kotekar campus, which is about 15 km away from the city.
Mahesh L Bondal, secretary of the society, stated in a press communique that the society started Ganapathy High School in Mangaluru in 1870 to provide affordable and value-based education to the locals. In 1941, the society started its second campus at Kotekar, with the same aim in the suburbs of Mangaluru. “Both of these campuses have a consistent track record of imparting high-class education. It has helped many individuals enter diverse fields such as banking, civil, armed services and others,” he stated.
The society has now decided to transfer its facilities from the GHS Mangaluru campus to the Kotekar campus, which, according to the management, provides a larger campus with more amenities. Bondal further stated that over the last four years, society has also constructed an English medium school, with a CBSE syllabus, which stresses modern science, mathematics, and computer labs in Kotekar. In addition, the society plans to construct state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor sports facilities at its Kotekar campus.
Ganesh Shenoy, a trader in Bunder, Mangaluru speaking to Team Mangalorean said, ” It’s really sad to note that a century-plus old institution which has given the education to students who are well settled in life, is moving out of the city, putting those who want to pursue education in that school into inconveniences and hardship. My father, his three sons including myself, and my two boys studied at Primary School and completed our high school at GHS. We all have settled well in life, with the good education we got at this institution- while I am into a mega arecanut, Spices etc business, all my three sons are doing well in the various professional fields in the USA, London and Germany. On the 100th anniversary of GHS our family played a vital role in providing the latest gadgets, tech help etc. that was needed for the school. I hope the management changes their mind and come up with a better plan to retain GHS at the existing location.”
Well-known Surgeon at a prestigious hospital in the City, Dr Prabhakar M S said, “When things don’t work out in the right way, or due to lack of space, facilities, infrastructure, or could be other reasons, what the management has to do, they have to plan. But retaining the 150-year-old school which has catered to the education needs of the students, who are settled well in life, the same chance should be given to the present generation to study at GHS in City, rather than make them travel 15 km to Kotekar. Hope things can change for the convenience of the students. My sincere heartfelt gratitude to my teachers who mentored and gave me a good education during my school day at GHS, and what I am today, is all because of my teachers at GHS.”
