Remembering Poolaimedu and its ‘School for All Communities'

Despite plenty of schools and colleges functioning on the long stretch of Peelamedu today, in fact, the place could not have developed into an educational hub, if some children of the PSG family had not been ignored for admission for high school education in Coimbatore town.

Following the disappointment, the PSG Family founded a high school in Peelamedu itself. However, it was not just for the benefit of the PSG family, but, as revealed by its name, to provide education for ' Sarva Jana' (All Communities) on 4.06.1924. Hence it was named PSG Sarvajana High School.

“The centenary year of P.S.G Sarvajana Higher Secondary School begins today (4.6.2023). The school has scaled the heights of fame with eminent people visiting the institution.

Great poet Rabindranath Tagore visited Sarvajana High School in 1926, stood on the dais, and hummed ‘Jana Gana Mana’ in his own voice even years before the lyric became the National Anthem. Further, the poet collected a donation of Rs 34, five anas, and four paise from the students of Sarvajana High School for the welfare of his school in Santiniketan.

P.S.G Sarvajana Higher Secondary School still cherishes the register of records which contains valuable feedback from eminent scholars and leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Sir C.V Raman, Raja of Panagal, Raja of Bobbili, Periyar E.V Ramasamy, Sir A.T Pannir Selvam, Rajaji, and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, when they visited the school at different points of time” avers Senthalai. Na. Gowthaman, a noted historian of Coimbatore and former Tamil teacher of P.S.G Sarvajana Higher Secondary School. It may be noted that Gowthaman also compiled the school’s compendium when it celebrated its pearl jubilee in 2004. 

Though legend has it that Poolaimedu was a village founded on November 11, 1711, it is unbelievable to think today that there was no bus facility in Poolaimedu until 1922. Since there were only about 2000 houses with a population of some 1000 people in the year 1910, people had no other option but to walk to Coimbatore town. Nevertheless, a rich few had the privilege of traveling on bullock carts and horse carts.

Despite Peelamedu being a busy town with plenty of educational institutions and a great number of commercial establishments functioning today, it was once a place of refuge to the residents of Rayakrishnapuram, the village, which gradually came under the silt deposited by Sanganur Pallam. Led by their village patriarch Papanaicker, the residents of Rayakrishnapuram came to their new settlement which was an elevated land. As the place was in full bloom of the plant 'Poolai Poo' [Aerva lanata] the settlement came to be called 'Poolaimedu' which has been corrupted to 'Peelamedu'

However, the residents of Rayakrishnapuram, who moved to their new settlement ‘Poolaimedu’ were not without tears and memories of their native village.

“We lost everything

Our village, wealth, farmlands, fields and

Oxen

Yet, we keep moving

We lost our cattle, cow sheds, furniture

And all commodities essential to living

But we never lost the culture of living together

Let's march to our new settlement Poolaimedu!“

A Krishnasamy Naidu, the first Tamil teacher of Sarvajana High School, who wrote ‘Poolaimedu Varalaru' in 1963, records this song in the book as it was recited by the people during their migration from Rayakrishnapuram to Poolaimedu over 300 years ago.

With agriculture being the prime occupation in Poolaimedu, there was no business transaction through coins or rupee notes in the 'village'. People of Poolaimedu bought tamarind in exchange for jaggery and children bought eatables in exchange for cereals at the shops.

Though there were plenty of paddy fields in Poolaimedu, believe it or not, rice was eaten only by elderly people, since it was the food for the ones who could not work!

With schools in earlier days being part of temples, there was only a Gurukula system of education, in which only children from the upper caste were enrolled. However, when parents of the downtrodden communities and working class realized the need of getting their children educated, ‘Thinai Pallikoodams’ (Schools functioning on house pyols) came into existence. As a result, there were 841 Thinnai palllikoodams functioning in the district of Coimbatore until the beginning of the 19th century. With education at these Thinai Pallikoodams being looked after by villages, the government had nothing to do with it. The Ubathyayar or teacher of Thinnai Pallikodum, would run his school on the pyol of his own house.

The duration of education in Thinnai Pallikoodum was two years, there used to be two ‘classes’ functioning on the house pyol - one for senior students and another for juniors. The admission would be granted to a student in a Thinnai Pallikoodum based on an age criterion. However, when the Ubathiyayar asked the parents the age of their child, they would not be able to answer him, as they were illiterates and would not know how to calculate the age. 

Instead, in order to find out the eligibility of age, the teacher would ask the child to touch his ear or nose, bending his hand straight behind the head. If he was able to do so, he was said to have attained the age of getting an education! This was the practice in schools of Coimbatore even till 1965. While senior students were taught writing on palm leaves, juniors were given training in writing Tamil alphabets on the heap of sand, which every student carried to the school from the river bank.

However, in the year 1831, in order to set up schools with a standard education system, the London Mission Society sent Rev W B Adis and his wife Susanna Emelia Van Someren to Coimbatore. With the help of the then English Collector John Sullivan, the couple established the first school of Coimbatore on Mill Road near Marakadai and named it ‘London Mission Society Vernacular School’ Following this, the London Mission Society established several other schools across the city, which were renamed as CSI Schools in the year 1947.

Eminent educationist S.S Rajagopalan and former Headmaster of the PSG Sarvajana Higher Secondary School informs that there were only four High schools in Coimbatore and education was available only through English medium after eighth standard. However, Sarvajana High School was the first institution in Tamil Nadu to teach Science through Tamil medium in 1929. Lauding this effort of the school, Anne Besant, prominent British Theosophist and women’s rights activist wrote in her journal ‘New India’ in 1929 thus…

‘Coimbatore directs the entire Tamil Nadu in education” 

Sources: 1) Poolaimedu Varalaru – A.Krishnasamy Naidu

2) Kovai Maavatta Kalvi Varalaru- Pulavar Senthalai. Na. Gowthaman