Jaffna Central College is a national school in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1817 by British Methodist missionaries, it is one of Sri Lanka’s oldest schools.



History

In 1813 the Methodist’s British Conference approved the establishment of missions in Ceylon, Java and the Cape of Good Hope. On 30 December 1813 Dr Coke, seven missionaries (William Ault, Benjamin Clough, George Erskine, Martin Harvard, James Lynch, Thomas H. Squance) and two of the missionaries’ wives left Portsmouth and sailed to Ceylon. Mrs Ault and Dr. Coke died on the journey. When the arrived in Bombay they had little money but they were helped by Governor Evan Nepean and W. T. Money, a merchant. Five of the missionaries (Ault, Clough, Erskine, Lynch and Squance) sailed from Bombay on 20 June 1814 and arrived in Galle on the south coast of Ceylon on 29 June 1814. On 11 July 1814 the missionaries gathered together to decide who would be stationed where – Lynch and Squance were to go to Jaffna in the north; Ault was to go to Batticaloa in the east; Erskine was to go to Matara in the south; and Clough was to remain in Galle. Clough was later joined by Harvard and his wife. Lynch and Squance left Galle on 14 July 1814 and arrived in Jaffna on 10 August 1814 where they established the Wesleyan Methodist Mission, North Ceylon. On 1 August 1816 the mission purchased from the government the former orphanage situated opposite the esplanade in Jaffna. In 1817 the Jaffna Wesleyan English School was founded with Rev. Lynch as principal.The school transferred to the Vembadi site in 1825. The school was renamed Jaffna Central School in 1834 by the then principal Rev. Dr. Peter Percival. In the same year a separate girls school was established which was renamed Vembadi Girls’ High School in 1897. JCC prospered, becoming affiliated to Madras University (1869) and Calcutta University(1897). In 1945 JCC started providing free education. Most private schools in Ceylon, including JCC, were taken over by the government in 1960. In 1994 JCC became a national school. JCC’s principal Kanapathy Rajadurai was shot dead on 12 October 2005 in Jaffna.