National High School, Basavanagudi

National High School (or NHS) is a government-aided high school in the Basavanagudi section of Bangalore, India.

With grades/classes for 8th, 9th and 10th, NHS caters to academically eligible students regardless of religion or caste.^[1] NHS is run by the National Education Society (NES).

History

In 1917 Dr. Annie Besant and several others founded NHS in Bangalore. During its early years, NHS hosting several activists for Indian independence from Great Britain. Mahatma Gandhi visited NHS on several occasions.

It is said that on one of Gandhiji's visits, he had said "If on a map of India the places I love are marked red, the place on which the National High School stands will be marked very very red". Past students of the school recall this as having been told to them by some of their teachers.

In its glory days – from inception till around mid to end 1980s, National High School attracted the best students, had an outstanding overall academic record. In the annual Class 10 State Board exams, National High School would have at least 5 places in the Top 10 ranks for many successive years. In extra curricular activities too, the school produced some outstanding sportsmen of national and international repute.

Admission

Admission is open to all qualifying students without regard to religion, caste or creed. NHS requires an overall score of 85%–90% in the seventh standard exam for admission

Panchayat elections

There are five sections for each grade/class, A to E. For each section there are five leaders elected, normally three boys and two girls. Among all the 25 leaders, There will be another round of election for the selection of school Union Leader and two other Members of Union Cabinet who represent the school. This election process is annually conducted in the month of July.

Facilities

Labs

Physics Lab
Biology Lab
Chemistry Lab
Science Centre
Computer Lab

Sport

Cricket
Handball
Hockey
Football
Badminton
Swimming
Athletics
Table tennis
Tennis
Carrom
Chess
Basketball

Other Facilities

Smart Boards
Library
NCC
Seva Dala
Afternoon Meals ( ಬಿಸಿ ಊಟ )

"Clubs"

Science club
Eco club
Consumer club
Rotary interaction club
Surakshana samiti

Faculty

Dr. Venkatarama Bhattar – Sanskrit (Pratibha Bhushana awardee)(Head Master)

This list will be updated to the extent possible soon.

Challenges ahead

The institution was highly reputed for a long time – since inception and till mid 1990s. A huge influx of private schools since late 1980s drastically changed the education scenario in Karnataka as well as rest of India, which led to a steady decline in the sheen on National High School.

Several attempts have been made by distinguished alumni to restore the glory of National High School, An attempt by Anil Kumble (along with Dr CNR Rao who studied in National College) was made with hope of adequate funding to modernize the institution. However, the attempt did not materialize.^[2]

Most recently, a technology organization owned by a alumni stepped in to set up a Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Lab at the school. This seems to be shaping up well ^[3]

Alumni

Notable alumni

H.D. Kumaraswamy – Chief Minister of Karnataka.
Anil Kumble – cricketer
Sheshadri Vasu – Baraha Kannada software developer
Ramesh Aravind – film actor
Chandrashekar – film actor
Dr Vishnuvardhan – film actor
Raghunath. N – deputy manager, Bharat Electronics Limited, Ministry of Defence, Government of India
Vinayak Joshi – film actor
Arjun Sarja – famous movie actor
Sunil Rao – film actor
Srujan Lokesh – stand-up comedian
EAS Prasanna – cricketer
Bhagwat Chandrashekar – cricketer
Prakash Podukone – ex badminton player
Dr T. S. Nagabharna – chairman of Kannada Development Authority of Govt of Karnataka
Manharlal Pranlal Thakkar – justice of the Supreme Court of India
Dr. G. Guruswamy – principal scientist, NASA
Niranjan Deshpande – anchor at Suvarna TV