Why a famed Kochi school is being converted to NIA court

Kochi: The gates of FACT Township High School in Eloor, once opened each morning to the sound of school bells, are set for a sombre transformation. The classrooms where generations of children studied will soon make way for courtrooms, while the sprawling campus will acquire the security arrangements of a judicial complex handling cases of national security.

The state government has accorded administrative sanction to take advance possession of the school building and 2.5-acre compound to establish two Exclusive Special Courts under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act.

The twin courts follow Supreme Court directives to ease the pendency of terror and national-security trials, which have long burdened the Ernakulam CBI court.

“They asked for our consent for 2.5 acres, including the building. We agreed on a lease basis by charging a fee, initially for three years. The negotiations with the state government are almost complete, and the file is now before the Law Department,” a senior FACT official privy to the negotiations told Onmanorama.

NIA sources said three to four buildings were inspected before the standalone school structure was selected. The Centre will reimburse infrastructure costs incurred by the State. Sixteen posts have been sanctioned for each court, including Special Judges, Sheristadars, bench clerks and security personnel, with 32 posts in all.

For those who studied or taught there, the proposed courts mark the latest chapter in the decline of an institution that once occupied a prominent place in the educational life of Eloor and neighbouring areas.

A cradle of talent for six decades
Founded in the 1960s under the vision of legendary FACT Chairman and Managing Director M K K Nayar, the school was intended to provide quality education not only to the children of FACT employees but to the wider community.

At its peak, the campus, which stretched across over 20 acres and had a vast athletic ground, hosted state and national-level school meets, revenue tournaments and film shoots.

Many prominent personalities studied here. Among them was actor-filmmaker Nadirshah, who attended the school from 1982 to 1985. “It was the school that made me an artiste,” he recalled while speaking to Onmanorama. “Back then, from Edappally to Kalamassery and beyond, it was the number-one school. Gaining admission was fiercely competitive. I got admission in Class 8 with special recommendation only because I was into arts.”

That year, Nadirshah won first prize in Kathakali Sangeetham at the State School Kalolsavam, trained by legendary maestro Kalamandalam Hyderali. He was also the School Leader throughout his three years there.

“The classes were full, with separate batches for boys and girls. The school ground was massive, a hub for sports and arts. Hearing that it has come to this, I feel deeply saddened,” he said.

The beginning of the decline
The school’s fortunes changed in 2004, when FACT's financial crisis led to the closure of its primary section and the high school being leased to private management, Toc H.

“When Toc H took over in 2004, we had nearly 900 students across English and Malayalam mediums,” said Girija Kumari S, who taught there for two decades before resigning as Assistant Headmistress in 2023.

“Under FACT, it had every facility and had school bands, youth festivals, and dedicated teachers. But when Toc H exited around 2015, the employees stepped in to save the school.”

In 2016, former students who had become FACT employees formed the FACT Employees Educational and Service Society (FEE&SS) to keep the school running. But with most students coming from economically weaker families, tuition collections were limited, while lease payments remained a burden.

“Every single year became a crisis, and we were told ‘the school will close this year’. There were eviction threats, student-teacher protests, and tears. The tears of teachers who were laid off without support have fallen on that ground. In the end, we watched it deteriorate,” Girija Kumari recalls.

Alumni and staff approached political leaders and Union Ministers seeking support and CSR funding from public sector units. “We pleaded our case everywhere, but the management told us bluntly: ‘For us, this is business,’ looking only at monetary returns rather than education,” said C J Joseph, the school’s last Headmaster.

The management claimed accumulated lease arrears of ₹24 lakh, including old liabilities, he said. The society could not clear them. “Even our school bus had to be surrendered to clear debts,” Joseph said.

The alumni made a final show of solidarity by organising a reunion during the school’s last years. “We prepared for an entire year to make it grand, but the corporate management tried to block it at the last minute. The alumni refused to back down; they warned the authorities, ‘We will break open the gates if we must,’ forcing them to yield permission. But even that solidarity couldn’t halt the decay,” Joseph recalled.

“We tried everything,” Nadirshah said. “Leaders intervened, alumni mobilised, but it wasn’t a matter that ordinary people could control once corporate ownership decided otherwise.”

By 2023, repeated eviction notices put up by FACT had further eroded parents’ confidence. The final Class 10 batch had only three students. On March 28, 2024, the school closed.

“That very evening, FACT double-locked the gates and the HM’s room. We had to sit on the floor of a downstairs LKG room, pulling a Wi-Fi wire, to issue Transfer Certificates (TCs) to the remaining 126 children. It was that cruel an ending,” Joseph said.
The keys were handed over in April 2024.