St. John's College, Jaffna
St. John's College is a private school in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1823 by British Anglican missionaries, it is one of Sri Lanka's oldest schools.HistoryIn 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 to 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.
