In 1848, it was a revolutionary concept. But, the school dedicated to girl students, the first in Malabar, had the support of the erstwhile Zamorin rulers. Celebrating its post-centenary platinum jubilee (175th anniversary) this year, the Basel Evangelical Mission (BEM) Girls’ Higher Secondary School, in the heart of Kozhikode city, has borne witness to a slew of revolutionary ideas since then.
The school was founded by German Missionary J.M. Freetz at a time when casteism and racism ruled Kerala society and education was limited to the upper class, especially men. The school, housed in a small quarters at Kallai initially, with classes up to Standard 5, had G.T. Varughese as its first headmaster. It welcomed students from all strata of society irrespective of caste and class.
Besides being the first school for girls in north Kerala, it also had the first boarding house in the State housing students from as far as Thirukochi and Kasaragod. After shifting to its new premises at Mananchira in 1859, it became a middle school in 1872 and a high school in 1879. It was in 1998 that the school was upgraded to a higher secondary school.
