Kanchi College of Education

There was a school with less than hundred children on the northern bank of the river Palar in the fertile village called Athur where people are known for their industriousness. The village itself is on the State Highway connecting Kancheepuram to Chengalpattu. The school was then run by the Ramakrishna Mission which decided to close the school and move to Chennai, then called Madras. The people of the village, more importantly, Sri. Athur R. Srinivasa lyer wanted the school to continue to benefit the children of Athur and neighbouring villages. At this point, Sri O.V. Alagesan former Union Minister who lived near by in Chengalpattu stepped in and offered to run the school. This was in the year 1958. This also happened to be the year when Sri. M. Bhaktavatsalam, the former Chief Minister attained the age of 60. Sri Alagesan who had always been an admirer of the quietly efficient ways of Sri. M. Bhaktavatsalam wanted to do something which will perpetuate the memory of the latter, who by himself was a self effusive person. Therefore, he named the School Bhaktavatsalam Sashtiaptapoorthy High School and founded a Trust to run the school, and named it 'The Bhaktavatsalam Educational Trust. Thus, the Bhaktavatsalam Educational Trust was born on September 15, 1958. Many people, known to Sri. Alagesan, mostly people from the parliamentary constituency of Chengalpattu used to seek his help in finding suitable jobs for their sons. Though he wanted to help them and did so, he realized that the young men who were seeking employment would be able to help themselves, if they had the kind of qualifications, the job market was looking for. This realization led him to start a polytechnic at Kancheepuram which also was named by him after Sri Bhaktavatsalam. The Bhaktavatsalam Polytechnic was started in the year 1959 under the Aided Scheme of the State Government with a sanctioned intake of 120. The Polytechnic which was started in a rented building soon moved to spacious buildings of its own at Karaipettai on the outskirts of Kancheepuram. The Polytechnic today has a strength of 1600 students and consistently produces results of near 100% in all Branches of Engineering. Sri. Alagesan also found that the children of rural areas were not getting quality education and thereby were missing out on opportunities as compared to their urban counterparts. This was more so in the case of girls. He wanted to do something to rectify this situation. His task was made easy by the generosity of Sri.C.N. Varadappan, scion of the Pettai Zamin family who donated land for the purpose of starting a Girls School in Poonamallee. This was in the year 1960. The Sarojini Varadappan Girls School was started by the B.E. Trust at Poonamallee. The school now has a strength of over 2000 girls. Sri. Alagesan also found that elite Public Schools of those days were exclusive and unless one was very wealthy or highly connected, admission was hard to get. He set about trying to rectify this situation by starting the Brindavan Public School at Coonoor under the auspices of the Trust in an old tea factory with 13 students. Soon, the school was a challenge to all the elite schools in the Nilgiris be it in academics or games or sports. The school now has all the modern facilities. The Brindavan Public School in Coonoor, started in 1968 was followed by the Brindavan Public School, Athur in 1974. In the interim period, Sri. Alagesan, a deeply religious person also started a Veda Padasala in Thirukkalukundram and an Agama Padasala in his native village of Ozhalur. In 1983, The Bhaktavatsalam Educational Trust celebrated its Silver Jubilee. The function was graced by the then President of India, Giani Zail Singh. To commemorate the Silver Jubilee, the third Brindavan Public School was started in Kodaikanal in 1983, again in rented premises with a student strength of 13. After the passing away of Sri. Alagesan in 1992, Mr.A.Vamanan (already a Trustee) took over as the President of the Trust. Under his stewardship, the Trust has started the Pattammal Alagesan College of Arts and Science at Athur (2000) and the Brindavan Public School at Chengalpattu (2002). The Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Bhaktavatsalam Educational Trust were held in 2008 with the inaugural being the "Golden Chariot" procession of Lord Muruga Temple at Tiruttani on July 2nd 2008. The institutions celebrated the Golden Jubilee with the complete involvement of the students, parents and local people. The celebrations were occasioned by include inter-school quiz competitions, Intra Institutional sports events, cultural shows etc. The Trust announced "Golden Jubilee" scholarships to meritorious students in the various Institutions. The Trust also received the necessary clearances from the National Council for Teacher Education, Banglore and Government of Tamil Nadu and University of Madras for starting a college of Education at Kancheepuram. With these clearances, the Kanchi College of Education was started in the Golden Jubilee year of the Institution of the Trust. The College was inaugurated by Honorable P.Chithambaram, Union Finance Minister. As a grand finale of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, students from all the institutions under the umbrella of the trust participated. The function was graced by a number of leaders in the fields of Politics, Government, Education and others who were either former colleagues or admirer of Thiru Alagesan with Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Former President as the Chief Guest. The alumni of our Institutions are presently located in various countries such as the USA, U.K, France, Singapore, Malasyia, Ethiopia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Mauritius etc., and also in almost all the states in India. We take pride in their achievements and wish them well.