St. John's College, Jaffna

St. John's College பரி. யோவான் கல்லூரி
100px Lux in tenebris luce Light shines in the darkness
Address
Main Street, Chundikuli Jaffna, Jaffna District, Northern Province 40000 Sri Lanka
Coordinates
Information
School type	Private 1AB
Religious affiliation(s)	Christianity
Denomination	Anglicanism
Founded	1823
Founder	Rev. Joseph Knight
School district	Jaffna Education Zone
Authority	Church of Ceylon
School number	1001029
Principal	Rev. N. J. Gnanaponrajah
Head teacher	A. H. Gnanarajan
Chaplain	Rev. S. Dhanendra
Teaching staff	95
Grades	1-13
Gender	Boys
Age range	5-18
Language	Tamil
Houses	Johnstone (Blue) Pargiter (Red) Handy (Green) Peto (Purple) Thompson (Yellow)
School roll	2,130
Website	jaffnastjohnscollege.com
Knight block

St. John's College (Tamil: பரி. யோவான் கல்லூரி Ceṉ. Yōvāṉ Kallūri, SJC) is a private school in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1823 by British Anglican missionaries, it is one of Sri Lanka's oldest schools.

History

In 1817 the Anglican Church Mission Society (CMS) approved the establishment of missions in Ceylon. On 20 December 1817 four clergymen - Joseph Knight, Samuel Lambrick, Robert Major and Benjamin Ward - and their wives left England and sailed to Ceylon on board the Vittoria. They arrived in late June 1818. Knight went to Jaffna, Lambrick went to Colombo, Major and his wife went to Galle and Ward and his wife to Trincomalee. Knight started his missionary work in 1818 in Nallur.

The Nallur English Seminary was established in March 1823 by Knight. The school had only 7 students and was located in Knight's bungalow. In 1845 the school was relocated to Chundikuli and renamed the Chundikuli Seminary.

In the same year the Church Mission Society took over the old Portuguese St. John the Baptist church. In 1846 the school moved into a hall next to the church. The church was demolished in 1859 and replaced by the current church.

The school was renamed St. John's College in 1891. The free education system was introduced by the government in 1945 but SJC chose to remain outside the system. In 1951 SJC joined the free education system. Most private schools in Ceylon were taken over by the government in 1960 but SJC chose to remain as a private and non-fee levying school.

SJC's principal C. E. Anandarajah was shot dead on 26 June 1985 in Jaffna. It is alleged that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam assassinated Anandarajah for organising a cricket match with the Sri Lankan military.

Big Match

Main article: Battle of the North (cricket match)

SJC play Jaffna Central College in annual cricket match known as the Battle of the North or the Battle of the Blues. The first match took place in 1904.

Principals

• 1823-25 Rev. Joseph Knight
• 1825-39 Rev. W. Adley
• 1839-41 Rev. F. W. Taylor
• 1841-46 Rev. I. T. Johnstone
• 1846-66 Rev. R. Pargiter
• 1866-74 Rev. T. Good
• 1874-78 Rev. D. Wood
• 1878-79 Rev. E. Blackmore
• 1879-89 Rev. G. T. Fleming
• 1889-92 Rev. C. C. Handy (acting)
• 1892-95 Rev. J. W. Fall
• 1895-99 Rev. I. Carter
• 1899-00 Rev. R. W. Ryde
• 1900-19 Rev. Jacob Thomson
• 1919 Rev. K. C. McPherson (acting)
• 1920-40 Rev. Henry Peto
• 1940-57 Rev. J. T. Arulanantham
• 1957-59 P. T. Mathai
• 1959-66 A. W. Rajasekeram
• 1967-76 K. Pooranampillai
• 1976-85 C. E. Anandarajah
• 1985-87 T. Gunaseelan
• 1987 K. Pooranampillai
• 1988-93 Dr. E. S. Thevasagayam
• 1993-06 S. Thanapalan
• 2006- Rev. N. J. Gnanaponrajah

Alumni

• D. J. Ambalavanar – Church of South India Bishop of Jaffna
• C. E. Anandarajah – Principal of St. John's College, Jaffna
• J. T. Arulanantham – Principal of St. John's College, Jaffna
• K. D. Arulpragasam – Vice-Chancellor of the Eastern University, Sri Lanka
• K. Arumugam – Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering, Member of the Senate of City University London
• S. Arumugam – Director of Irrigation
• Y. Balaretnarajah – Chief of the Defence Staff of Sri Lanka
• Nishan Canagarajah – Pro-vice-chancellors of the University of Bristol
• S. J. V. Chelvanayakam – leader of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi/Tamil United Liberation Front, Member of Parliament for Kankesanthurai
• R. R. Crossette-Thambiah – Solicitor General of Ceylon, Crown Counsel
• T. H. Crosette – Principal of Manipay Hindu College, Vice Principal of St. John's College, Jaffna, Headmaster of Trinity College, Kandy and St. John's College, Jaffna
• T. B. Dhanapala – Superintendent of Police
• Alfred Duraiappah – Member of Parliament for Jaffna, Mayor of Jaffna
• M. K. Eelaventhan – National List Member of Parliament
• Rajan Hoole – human rights activist
• Ratnajeevan Hoole – professor of electrical engineering
• Daniel M. Joseph – plantation owner, member of Matale Local Board
• Visakan Kadirkamanathan – professor of signal and information processing
• A. P. Kandasamy – Director of the Department of Meteorology
• S. Kulendran – Church of South India Bishop of Jaffna
• K. C. Logeswaran – Permanent Secretary, district secretary, ambassador
• T. Maheswaran – Member of Parliament
• D. V. J. C. T. T. Muthiah – Chief Mudaliyar of the Eastern Province
• M. Muthubalasuriyar – General Manager of the Department of Government Electrical Undertakings
• C. S. Nachinarkinian – Health Service Secretary for the North Eastern Province, lecturer, medical superintendent, medical officer
• C. Nagalingam – Chief Justice of Ceylon
• Major General Perinpanayagam
• Satchi Ponnambalam – Judge, Supreme Court of Belize, Chief Magistrate of Belize, Senior State Advocate of Zambia
• V. Ponnampalam – Gate Mudaliyar, President of the Jaffna Co-operative Bank
• K. C. Praesoody – Superintendent of Excise
• Nadarajah Raviraj – Member of Parliament for Jaffna District, Mayor of Jaffna
• Sam A. Sabapathy – Proctor, Mayor of Jaffna
• R. R. Selvadurai – Permanent Secretary, District Judge
• Maithripala Senanayake – Cabinet Minister, Member of Parliament, Governor of the North Central Province
• T. Sivagnanam – Senior Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Lands
• R. Sivagurunathan – Editor-in-Chief of Thinakaran
• Major General T. Sivashanmugam
• C. Suntharalingam – Cabinet Minister, Member of Parliament for Vavuniya
• H. W. Thambiah – Judge, Supreme Court of Ceylon, High Commissioner
• S. Thambyduarai – District Judge, Vice President of Tamil United Liberation Front
• C. J. T. Thamotheram – teacher, publisher and social worker
• J. N. Vethavanam – District Judge
• S. Vithiananthan – Professor of Tamil, vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna
• William Wadsworth – District Judge
• D. B. Welagedara – Cabinet Minister, Member of Parliament
• V. Yogeswaran – Member of Parliament for Jaffna

See also

• List of schools in Northern Province, Sri Lanka

External links

• St. John's College
• Old Boys Association
• Old Boys Association, Sydney, Australia
• Old Boys Association, Victoria, Australia
• Old Boys Association, South Sri Lanka
• Chundikuli St. John's Past Pupils Association, UKA