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 Early
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The Kunnenkeril family was an
old established one in Kerala, going back to the
sixteenth century. Originally belonging to the
Syrian Christian faith, its members became Anglicans
and, in 1888, Kunnenkeril Koratha was ordained
priest in the Anglican Church. Koratha worked
hard at his ecclesiastical duties in order to
give his children a good education. His grandson,
Kuruvila Jacob, was born on 3 August 1904, inheriting
the sound values of committed work and belief
in a solid education.
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Kuruvila was the fourth of Kunnenkeril
Jacob's eight children. He had an idyllic childhood,
growing up in the small village of Aymanem on
the banks of the river Meenachil. Memories of
the quiet, pastoral life, spent in beautiful natural
surroundings, remained with him all his life.
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Since his father's job as a judge
entailed frequent transfers, Kuruvila and his
siblings changed school several times. He was
thus educated at Kottayam, Trivandrum, Nagercoil,
and Parur. In all his schools, the young boy excelled
in sports and did reasonably well in his studies,
too.
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He caught the eye of some of
his more discerning teachers who recognised Kuruvila's
potential and encouraged him. These were early
lessons in dealing with students as was the repugnance
of unfair methods of punishment meted out by other
teachers that formed the foundation of the future
educator.
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After his Intermediate course
at CMS College, Kottayam, Kuruvila Jacob went
on to Madras Christian College (MCC) in Madras,
for his graduate degree in physics and chemistry.
As at school, he took active part in all the sports
activities. He stayed on at MCC as a demonstrator
and also worked as part-time secretary at the
Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA).
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But soon he had to decide what
he wanted to do with his life. Kuruvila had always
admired and respected his teachers and had been
greatly influenced by some of them. He realised
the important role a good teacher played in a
child's life and wanted to be one such. He set
about finding out where he could be best trained
and discovered that Leeds University in England
offered one of the best programmes.
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He succeeded in convincing his
father that teaching was to be his profession
and to agree to pay the expenses involved.Kuruvila
married Grace Mathai in August 1929, just before
he left for England. It was difficult to leave
his young wife behind, but she had her studies
to complete too.
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