Southam Tamil Maha Vidyalaya situated in Demodara is a leading Tamil school in the Ella Educational Division. Demodara is famous for its railway station.
This school was established in 1929 as an estate primary Tamil mixed school by the Demodera Tea Plantation Company limited.
The first Headmaster was Mr. C. James. In 1977 this school was taken over by the government when all the estate schools were brought under the control of the government. Since then the classes were extended up to G C E Ordinary level. The school was upgraded as ‘1C’ type school and named as Southam Tamil Maha Vidyalaya.
The first batch of students sat for the G C E Ordinary level in 1982. Mr. B M M A Cader was the principal who took a lot of effort to develop this school. This school has produced many principals, teachers and government servants. This school has earned a name for its a huge development programmes by the devoted services of past principals and teachers.
At present this school has an enrollment of 827 students. There are 41 members in the staff. Mr.T.Sandarasegaram is the present principal and Mr. S Sadananthar is his deputy. Mr. P. Punniyamoorthy is the Vice Principal.
Seven students of this school got through in the grade 5 Scholarship Examination and 14 students obtained more than 100 marks in 2009. Since then so many students have got through the Grade 5 Scholarship Examinations.
The G C E Ordinary Level results has improved during recent years with the help of qualified teachers who specialize in their subjects. They work hard during school hours and also conduct extra classes after school. The school has its own agenda to have tests either practical or written, to check the students’ progress. Several students have joined the other leading schools in the town to study Bio Science, Mathematics and Commerce for their G.C.E (A/L), this school has only Arts stream classes for their Advanced levels.
The students play a major role in the religious and cultural activities with the support of their teachers. They organize Holy Prophet’s Birthday, Vani Vizha, Oli Vizha and Wesak celebrations. All the children take part in these activities to make them a success. The daily assembly too starts with Hindu, Islam and Catholic prayers together which help the students to respect other religions. The International Children’s Day is celebrated yearly by the teachers, organizing many programmes as well as games. The International Teachers’ Day is celebrated by the children.
Co-curricular activities play a key role to develop leadership skills and personality development. Every year many programmes are marked in the school calendar in order to respect of them. All the children take part in any of the Tamil and English Day competitions which start as school level competitions and some have excelled at national level too. They have won many gold, silver and bronze medals in the All Island Tamil Day competitions.
The standard of English is fairly high compared to schools in plantations. Miss. B. F Raeeza won First place in the National level Competition in Copy Writing for Grade 10 in 2009 and Miss R. Damayanthy took third place in the Oratory Competition for Grade 13 during the same year.
Boys’ scouting also plays a prominent role to mould the children. The school has a well organized scout troop as the principal himself is a ’Wood Badge’ holder, an Assistant District Scout Commissioner and First Aid Trainer at the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society. He helps helps them in their training as well. The school assists the District Association to organize many scout camps in the school as well as to conduct many Scout Leaders Training programmes.
Their scout troop took part in the National Scout Jamborees and four scouts went on a ‘Goodwill’ tour to Tamil Nadu, India in 2008.
The Volleyball team has a notable place in the province as it has fielded f teams in all three age groups every year. The Under 17 boys’ volleyball team won the Provincial Championship in 2010. Mr. A Jeyaram, the teacher-in-charge for sports is dedicated in his task.
The present principal, who has 37 years experience as a teacher and four years experience as principal, has taken a lot of effort to develop this school. He is a prominent celebrity in sports and scouting in the province. He has represented the country in the Indian National Scout Jamboree held in New Delhi in 2007. This school has grown in recent years in every aspect while promoting the standard of living of the tea plantation workers through education. It helps every student to get the leadership training through sports and scouting. There is no doubt that this school will emerge as a leading Tamil school in the district in the near future.
- Sujitha Miranda
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