All Saints High School Hyderabad

In the EducationWorld India School Rankings 2013, ASHS is ranked among the country’s Top 100 (#90) co-ed day schools

ONE OF THE OLDEST educational institutions in Hyderabad (pop. 7 million), the coveted and disputed joint capital of the recently promulgated states of Telangana and Seemandhra, All Saints High School (ASHS, estb. 1855) was promoted by the Rt. Rev. Daniel Murphy, vicar apostolic of the city with the purpose of providing K-X English-medium education to children of poor and marginalised households. In 1932, management of the school was entrusted to the order of the Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel (motto: ‘virtue alone ennobles’).

Since then over the past sesquicentenary, this 159-year-old vintage school spread over eight acres in Gunfoundry, once the heart of the city, and affiliated with the Andhra Pradesh Secondary School Certificate Board, has increased its enrollment to 2,290 boys and 654 girls. In the EducationWorld India School Rankings 2013, All Saints High is ranked among the country’s Top 100 (#90) co-ed day schools, and #16 in former Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad.

In keeping with the missionary tradition and philosophy of the low-profile, France-based Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel — who have established and run 180 education institutions in India with an aggregate enrollment of 200,000 students (and 400 education institutions worldwide) — to empower poor youth and the physically challenged, in 1991 ASHS inaugurated a special Telugu-medium school for children of tribal and backward communities. Therefore All Saints High now has 3,000 students in the English-medium wing and 500 in the Telugu-medium section. The Telugu medium students gradually switch to  English medium after completion of class VII.

Unsurprisingly, the ASHS curriculum includes a special values education programme which sensitises all students to issues such as income inequality, communalism, and caste and gender discrimination. “We accord high importance to values education in ASHS to inculcate religious tolerance, patriotism, emotional quotient, and healthy competition. Of course we aspire to achieve academic excellence, but our prime focus is on developing every child into a holistic human being, who will focus not just on personal growth and advancement but on the egalitarian development of society,” says Bro. Shajan Anthony, principal of ASHS. An English literature postgrad of Osmania University, Hyderabad with an MBA from Christ University, Bangalore, Anthony served as principal of the Montfort School, Jabalpur (2002-06) and vice principal of the Little Flower Degree College, Hyderabad (2006-08) prior to taking charge at ASHS in 2009.

Inevitably, given its long history and steady expansion, ASHS offers excellent infrastructure and facilities to its 3,000 students mentored by 149 teachers. The school is defined by its long corridors and classrooms clustered around a central quandrangle which is the venue of its morning assembly. Moreover, its well-equipped library stocked with 9,400 volumes, 20 journal subscriptions and subject-related videos and compact discs, is a centre of co-curricular activities featuring regular quiz, elocution and essay writing competitions.

Yet in former Andhra Pradesh and perhaps in peninsular India, ASHS is best known for the excellent sports education it provides. The school’s Denzil J. Balm Academy (estb. 1985) has produced some of India’s top test cricket stars including Mohammed Azharuddin, Syed Kirmani, Venkatapathi Raju and Noel David. National level players in other sports include Parupalli Kashyap, Guru Sai Dutt and Sumit Reddy (badminton); Mohammed Moazzam and Syed Hakeem (football); former India volleyball captain Ravikanth Reddy, Sunny Sarma (athletics) and Syeda Falak (karate).

Comments Bro. Shajan: “For over 150 years, ASHS has been providing a rich blend of values-based academic and experiential learning to children of Hyderabad. Here children learn about farming, gardening, road traffic management, and are given practical training in banking and postal services among other vocations. We ensure students acquire a deep understanding of science and maths subjects and don’t merely learn for examinations.”

With the ASHS management ready to further enrich the school’s holistic curriculum with additional extra-curricular, literary and sports activities, this 159-year institution is well on the way to acquiring a pan-India perspective and reputation. To this end, it has applied for affiliation with the Delhi-based Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). “‘What we are is God’s gift to us and what we become is our gift to God’ is what we believe,” says Bro. Shajan. “We want to spread this message to all education institutions countrywide.”

Way to go Bro! 

 Aruna Ravikumar (Hyderabad)