The atmosphere was frenzied on the sprawling campus of Nirmala Girls’ Higher Secondary School on Kamarajar Salai here on Tuesday morning. There are students practising dance, rehearsing skits and teachers supervising costume fittings. Preparations are on in full swing for the diamond jubilee celebrations to be held on Thursday.
“The school, started by nuns of the Congregation of Immaculate Conception (CIC), was declared open by the then Principal of Fatima College, Rose Benedicta, on June 25, 1954. The school began with 78 students and five teachers and now it has 4,350 students and more than 100 faculty members on its rolls,” said Headmistress Rev. Sr. P. Anna Mary.
Speaking about academic achievements, Sr. Anna said the school had the highest number of students appearing for the SSLC and Plus Two examinations from a single institution in the district and achieved cent per cent results in 2014.
“As many as 686 students took the SSLC examinations and 818 students appeared for the Plus Two examinations,” she said.
The objective of the teachers is imbibe discipline and dedication among the children.
“Apart from academic achievements, our students have been consistently bringing laurels to the school in sports,” a faculty member said.
A. Savariammal, a student of the 1964 batch, who also worked as a teacher for 37 years, described Nirmala School as a “happy home”.
“My English teachers were the ones who inspired me to take up a career in teaching. Apart from being inspirational, my teachers were extremely knowledgeable in their subjects and would make classes very interesting,” she recalled, reminiscing about her student years.
“I derived a lot of satisfaction from teaching here for 37 years. The school’s atmosphere is always peaceful with stress on discipline, dedication, punctuality and unity among students,” she added.
The school will have a special mass, led by Archbishop of Madurai Most Rev. Peter Fernando on Wednesday as a part of the diamond jubilee celebrations.
A cultural programme, featuring dance, skit and music, will be presented by the students on Thursday evening.
“The students are putting up a programme on the theme ‘Nature and its conservation.’ The history of the school will also be depicted by them and more than 500 girls are taking part in the programme,” said C.S. Maya, a faculty member.
