Remembering Sullivan, Stanes, and Addis

Being academic toppers from popular schools in the city, students aspiring for professions like doctors, engineers and chartered accountants of their choice need to know how a cross-section of the society was ignored even basic education for centuries discriminated in the name of caste, creed, and gender.

Though Tamil society in the Sangam age stressed the importance of learning at any cost, the Gurukula system of education permitted only upper-caste children to pursue studies in its “orthodox” institutions. At a time when children of the tillers and toilers were deprived of learning, the only institutions in Coimbatore, which provided them schooling, were the “Thinnai Pallis” run by the villagers. The schools were called so, as they functioned on the house pyols of the pedagogues, who were provided oil, Sheekkakai, Arappu ( Soapy substances for washing hair) oil cake, and grains every Saturday as remuneration!

However, a perfect form of education was made available to all cutting across castes and religions, when the first primary school of Coimbatore was founded in 1831 as “London Mission Society’s Vernacular School” at Marakadai in the heart of the city. Popularly known as “Christhava Pettai Pallikoodam” the school was a fruit of the efforts taken by John Sullivan, the then Collector of Coimbatore, and the Christian missionary couple William Bawn Addis and Susana Emilia Van Sameera.

Sullivan and Addis, who also wanted to set up an exclusive school for girls, founded the London Mission Girls School at Uppilipalayam in the year 1832.

In contrast to private people setting up schools and colleges in the present age to mint money from parents, the first educational institutions in the city were founded with the real objective of making everyone literate.

Following the setting up of many other schools like Thomas Anglo Vernacular School by Collector Thomas and St Michael’s Primary School by Fr Randy, Robert Stanes, an Englishman, founded a school in 1861 for providing education to the children of his mill employees. Popularly known as” Stanes European High School” it was founded in a rented building with a strength of four children and an appointment of two teachers. However, spanning over a century, it has become the most-sought school of Coimbatoreans as “Stanes Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School”, reads the article Kovai Mavatta Pazhamperum Pallikal (The earlier schools of Coimbatore district) by Pulavar Senthalai. Na. Gowthaman, a noted historian of Coimbatore. 

Thanking these great men, who pioneered in founding schools in Coimbatore, certain streets in the city still pronounce their names as “Sullivan Street” “ Thomas Street “ Father Randi Street” and “Addis Street”.