Move to convert one of the oldest boys’ schools kicks up a row

The Education department’s decision to throw open the doors of one of the oldest boys’ schools in the State to girl students has kicked up a row.

While a section of former students from the 233-year-old St. Joseph’s Boys’ Higher Secondary School in Kozhikode city have objected to the decision, the school management and staff claimed on Thursday (June 4, 2026) that the proposal for the purpose was given to the government following demands from parents and students. At present, the school has over 2,400 students from Classes V to XII.

School manager Fr. Pious Vachaparambil told the media that the change was part of the government’s co-education policy. Girl students would be admitted to Plus One classes in the current academic year. From 2026-27, they would be taken in Class V in phases. The management has set up infrastructure, including restrooms and washrooms, as well.

Representatives of the management and the staff said the institution was founded in 1793 to accommodate the children of the British East Company staff. It was taken over by the Carmelite priests in 1861 and later by the Jesuits in 1894, when the school began its journey as the St. Joseph’s Boys’ High School. From 1936, Indian students too started getting admissions. Former teachers of the school include freedom fighter K. Kelappan.

Functionaries of the ‘1994 alumni association’, however, said in a release that the move would deprive the school of its historical status as one of the oldest boys’ schools in the State. They pointed out that Kozhikode City has a number of aided schools for girls such as Providence Higher Secondary School, St. Joseph’s Anglo-Indian Girls’ Higher Secondary School, St. Vincent Girls’ Higher Secondary School, and St. Michael’s Girls’ Higher Secondary School. But there were very few such institutions for boys. This could reduce the educational opportunities available for them, former students such as K. Jithesh, Babinesh Bhaskar, K. Jaikar, and Biju Menon claimed.

They said that the school had been founded to ensure quality education for boys. They wondered if the development of the existing infrastructure alone would be of any help to the students as the management was yet to take any steps towards gender sensitisation. Representatives of the staff and the management, meanwhile, said the alumni group was not official, and that it had nothing to do with the school.