CMS college

 

‘The College’, Cotym, which later on came to be known as the CMS College, was started in 1817. Founded by the Church Missionary Society of England, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in India. The Government of Travancore welcomed the College as ‘a place of general education whence any demands of the state for officers to fill all departments of public service would be met’. The CMS College, Kottayam is now one of the largest colleges in Kerala with 14 departments offering 47 courses for 1900 students, 110 teaching faculty members and 35 administrative staffs. Deeply rooted in Kottayam and dedicated to its mission, the CMS College is one of the top colleges in Kerala. CMS College offers programs in almost all academic fields in arts and sciences. Whether you have a passion for basic science, applied science, literature, history, politics, commerce or economics, you’ll find a department that best suits your needs, here at CMS. CMS College boasts an exceptional natural setting combining green space and colonial architecture. Proximity to the city of Kottayam, offers the College community a wide range of shops and services, including several bookstores, boutiques, restaurants and cafes.

Rev. Benjamin Bailey, the father of printing in Travancore, was the first Principal of the College. He was a missionary with a vision, prudent and farsighted, a scholar and an architect. He brought out the first English – Malayalam and Malayalam – English dictionaries and also gave Malayalam its modern round type for printing. He authored over a dozen books and was the architect and engineer who designed and built the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kottayam. Rev. Joseph Fenn, who followed Rev. Bailey as Principal was a lawyer turned missionary. It was he who nurtured The College and set it on the road to become an institution of liberal education. 

In 1937the college became affiliated to the Travancore University. The last Missionary Principal of the College was Rev. Philip Lea was Principal at a time when the whole country was caught up in the Gandhian non-violent struggle for independence. It is a measure of the love that the missionaries were able to inspire in the hearts of the people that the working of the college was not too disrupted even at the height of the struggle. The generosity of Rev. and Mrs. Lea was responsible for giving a poor Dalit boy a chance to learn. It was this boy – Dr. K. R. Narayanan -who rose to become the President of India. In 1965, the Church Missionary Society transferred the management of the college along with its ownership to the CSI Synod which transferred the same to the CSI Madhya Kerala Diocese in 1981.

Rev. M. C. John became Principal in 1983. During his time he brought about a Green Revolution in the campus. He was keen to have a greener campus and initiated the planting of a good number of trees ranging from casuarinas to teaks in the campus. In 1992, the College celebrated the 175th year of her existence. In 1999 the college was awarded the Five Star status by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council. In 2004, the College was conferred the status of “Centre with Potential for Excellence” by the University Grants Commission. In the year 2006 the college was re-accredited by the NAAC at B++ with a score of 84%. 

Generations of students and teachers have passed through the portals of this ancient seat of learning. Luminaries like Dr. K. R. Narayanan, former President of India, Sri. K. P. S. Menon, former Indian Ambassador to the U. S. S. R., Padmavibhooshan Dr. George Sudarshan, the world renowned Physicist., Padmabhooshan Kavalam Narayana Panicker, Padmabhooshan Justice K. T. Thomas and Sri. Oommen Chandy (Chief Minister of Kerala) are some of the illustrious alumni of the CMS College.

The college was awarded minority status by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, Govt. of India. A revamping of the college campus with the addition of an eight lane athletic track, enumeration and documentation of the campus flora and various other activities are in progress. The College is now affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University.
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Some Nostalgic Images from CMS

ഒരികൽ കുടി CMS എല് പഠിക്കാൻ പറ്റിയെങ്ങിൽ എന്ന് ആഗ്രഹികാത്തവർ  ആരുണ്ട്.... അങ്ങനെ ഉണ്ടെങ്കിൽ അവർ CMS  ൻറെ ആത്മാവ് തോട്ടരിങ്ങിട്ടില്ല എന്നു വേണം കരുതാൻ .... 

Nostalgic Images from CMS

CMS College Kottayam

The CMS College (CMS College Kottayam) is the oldest college which started in India.CMS College Kottayam holds the record for the 'second' college in India. It was founded by the Church Missionary Society of England, in 1817 when no institution existed in what was then the princely state of Travancore to teach English. The Rev. Benjamin Bailey was the first principal of The College, Cottym, as it was then known, and the government of India welcomed the College as "a place of general education whence any demands of the state for officers to fill all departments of public service would be met"

The first college in India now has fourteen departments teaching 47 courses. There are six research centres in the college. Research work leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy is conducted in the departments of Botany, Zoology, Physics, Chemistry, English, and Commerce.

HISTORY

In the early years Old Seminary(Orthodox Pazhaya Seminary), the curriculum included the study of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Mathematics,History, and Geography besides English, Malayalam, Sanskrit, and Syriac. In 1838, the College was moved to a wooded hillock — the present site — commanding views of the distant Western Ghats. One of the oldest buildings in the campus is Room 52, or the "Grammar School", as it was originally called. A college magazine in Malayalam was started in 1864 by Principal Richard Collins, after whom the college library is named.

In 1890, two-year classes were started, and the first batch of students, initially all men, was presented for the F.A. Examination in 1892. Female students were not admitted to the College until 1938.In 1857 the college was affiliated to Madras University soon after its incorporation, and the college began to present students for the Matriculation examination. It provided free education to all its students until 1855, when the fee of one Rupee a month began to be collected from each student. The total number of students in 1870 was only 129. In 1880, Visakham Thirunal, Maharaja of Travancore, observed on a visit to the college: "Long before the state undertook the humanizing task of educating the subjects, the Christian Missionaries had raised the beacon of knowledge in the land".

In 1840, the number of students in the College was 220. In 1950, Degree classes were started, and by 1960 the number of students in the college had risen to 1,250. Postgraduate classes were started in 1959. The college is now affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University,Kottayam. In 1981, the Synod of the Church of South India transferred the management of the college to the C. S. I. Madhya Kerala Diocese.

In 1999 the college was accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with five-star status. In 2004 the University Grants Commission (UGC) accorded it the status of College with Potential for Excellence (CPE). In 2009, CMS College's English department, which is the oldest department in the oldest college in the state, celebrated the golden jubilee of the introduction of a postgraduate programme.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMS_College_Kottayam 

CMS College gets back its 2 years frozen in time

The 200th anniversary celebrations of CMS College begin on March 17 as new-found records prove that the oldest existing college in India was started in 1815, two years earlier than previously thought.

The early years of the college came to light after a study of documents in the Bangalore United Theological College Museum and the Missionary Register in the CMS College library as well as the Church Missionary Proceedings.

Dr Babu Cherian, the head of the college’s Malayalam department, stumbled on the piece of history during the research for his book, ‘Towards Modernity: The Story of the First College of India’. The college management has approved the change in the birth date.

The bicentennial celebration is also aimed at modernising all the departments of the college and raising the quality of education, principal Dr Roy Sam Daniel said.

The college, then called The College, Cotym, was started by Colonel John Munro, a British statesman who was a political resident and later Diwan of the princely state of Travancore. He started the college on 16 acres at Chungam near Kottayam.

The recently discovered records show that construction of the building was started as early as 1813 and classes were started with 25 students in 1815. Colonel Munro received the support of Rani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi, the Regent of Travancore.

Munro entrusted the management of the college to Pulikkottil Ittoop Ramban (Joseph Mar Divannasios) of the Malankara Church.

Munro wrote to the Church Mission Society (CMS) headquarters in Britain in 1813 asking for two missionaries to teach in the new college, the records collected by Dr Cherian shows. The letter was received in Britain after six months.

Thomas Norton, a missionary from Britain, came to Kottayam in May 1816 to take charge of the college. He stayed in Alappuzha, then a bigger and busier town than Kottayam.

Munro’s insistence on a resident head for the college led to the arrival of the legendary Benjamin Bailey in 1817, which was traditionally known as the founding year of CMS College. CMS College calendar recorded 1815 as the year the college was started.

The college’s phenomenal growth started with Bailey, who laid the foundation for English education in Kerala.

The original building where classes were started in March 1815 was later turned into a seminary when the college was shifted to its present location on a hillock in 1837.

Physics Batch (2001-2004)

History of CMS College

The oldest College in India, established by the Church Missionary Society of London in 1817

The CMS College (CMS College Kottayam) is the first college in Kottayam, Kerala, India. It was started by the Church Missionary Society, England, in 1817 when no institution existed in the then-Travancore state to teach English. The Rev. Benjamin Bailey was the first principal of The College, COTTYM, as it was then called and spelt. The government welcomed the College as "a place of general education whence any demands of the state for officers to fill all departments of public service would be met". In the early years, the curriculum included the study of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Mathematics, History and Geography besides English, Malayalam, Sanskrit and Syriac. In 1838, the College was shifted to the wooded hillock — the present site — commanding views of the distant Western Ghats. One of the oldest buildings in the campus is Room 52 or "Grammar School" as it was then named. The College magazine in Malayalam was started in 1864 by Principal Richard Collins, after whom the college library is named.

In 1857 the college was affiliated to Madras University soon after its incorporation and the college presented students for the Matriculation examination. The college provided free education to all the students until 1855 when the fee of 1 Rupee a month began to be collected from each student. The total number of students in 1870 was only 129. In 1880, the Maharaja of Travancore who visited the College observed: "Long before the state undertook the humanizing task of educating the subjects, the Christian Missionaries had raised the beacon of knowledge in the land".

In 1890, two-year classes were started and the first batch of students was presented for the F.A Examination in 1892. It was in 1938 that female students were admitted in the College for the first time.

In 1840, the number of students in the College was 220. In 1950, Degree classes were started and by 1960, the number of students in the college rose to 1250. Postgraduate classes were started in 1959. The college is now affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam.

In 1981, the Synod of the Church of South India transferred the management of the college to the C.S.I. Madhya Kerala Diocese.