The history of St. Ann's College of Education does not start in 1943. The idea of a training college for our graduate women was conceived as far back as in 1927, when Mother Josephine, the then Superior General of the apostolic Carmel made the first application to the Director Of Education, Madras.
Education of women in South Kanara was pioneered by the Apostolic Carmel in 1870, the teacher training institute for primary education was started in 1890, primary and high schools soon spread in South Kanara, to other parts of the Country and in Ceylon. A first grade college, viz., St. Agnes College was started in 1921. The need for trained teachers for the increasing high schools was acutely felt, in the event of the barriers for women to go for training to 'distant' Madras. The raw material, graduates, from our own college, was readily available to provide our high schools with teachers. However, the application was turned down as immature. In 1931, a fresh application was submitted, meeting with a firm refusal once again.
At last, the opportune time came when Mr. Statham, the D.P.I. was in town early 1943. He saw that the training college was a genuine need, and the application was submitted by Mother Josephine, the Superior General, once again. The visit of the University Commission was followed by a favourable report dated 4th April, 1943 and the formal sanction from the Registrar of the University, on the 2nd June, 1943, communicated telegraphically by none other than Fr. Jerome D'Souza, S. J.later the member of the Constituent Assembly. St. Ann's College of Education started in 1943. The college got permanent affiliation from the Government of Karnataka, in 1974.
As the College had been obtained as a result of prayer, its inauguration on 1st July, 1943 was marked by a special prayer service. The words of Rt. Rev. Dr. Victor Fernandes, Bishop of Mangalore, who formally inaugurated the course, in the Science Block of our High School, will remain as rich tribute to the women of Mangalore and the Apostolic Carmel, ".. Womanhood was always subject to man. The Catholic Church emancipated woman and raised her up to the level of man. But while women made progress in Western Countries, the Indian Woman is still in the background... We, men and the Rev. Fr. Rector of St. Aloysius College, here, may feel a little envious that women have secured this institution before the men; but we don't envy you. On the contrary, we congratulate you because you have gone ahead of us..."
There were forty-seven applications without having the College advertised. Twenty candidates were selected, for the L.T. degree course of Madras University. Through the years it increased and today the annual intake is a hundred. During the fifty years, 3,600 students have passed the portals of this institution. With the revised scheme, the L.T. degree was changed to B.T. degree in 1950 and with the reorganization of States in 1957, the College came under the Mysore University and the revised scheme came to be known as the B.Ed. degree course. Consequently the nomenclature of the College was changed as 'St. Ann's College of Education'. The college got permanent affiliation from the Government of Karnataka, in 1974.
At the wake of the Golden Jubilee, the College has gone one step higher by becoming a college for post-graduate studies in education, with the introduction of the M.Ed. Course in 1992. Once again history has repeated itself. The M.Ed. Course came to us, to celebrate the Golden Jubilee in 1993, though without grant-in-aid, as a result of powerful prayer. The first batch consisted of ten students, one being male. |
