THE JOHNIAN NEWS LETTER - NOVEMBER 1998

From the President

Dear Old Johnians,

I am overwhelmed to present my final message to the old Johnians of Victoria for a very satisfying year of activities. The 175th Anniversary celebrations, which included a Thanksgiving service and a Dinner Dance with the Principal of St John’s present is still receiving praises and am sure that those who had the opportunity of attending these functions have a lot to be proud of our alma mater. These celebrations also gave us the opportunity to develop close contacts with our interstate and international branches and I am sure this attachment is going to assist us working together in the future, on many goals which the Principal intends to achieve for the school in the near future. A complete report of our celebrations appear elsewhere in this bulletin. The old Johnians’ Cricket team stamped its class this year by beating our rivals, the old Thomians at the annual encounter, for the first time. My sincere thanks to an energetic and experienced committee, their spouses and children for their untiring assistance in all our endeavors. I am fully confident that the good work will continue to improve by future committees, keeping the Johnian flag flying high. Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and hope to see you at the AGM.

Bala Rajadurai

Thoughts for the Month

"It is easier to fight for principles than to live up to them" (Alfred Adler)

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

St. John's College, Jaffna commemoration of the 175th anniversary. Some reflections on St. John's College, Jaffna

by Sterling Perera (Extracted from Sunday Island 16/08/98)

St. John's College, Jaffna, one of Sri Lanka's illustrious schools, celebrates the 175th anniversary of its founding this year. My acquaintance with this school is limited to brief visits in the seventies and to noting year after year that St. John's always ranked among best performers at the GCE (Advanced Level) Examination. In order to obtain an objective index of performance of schools at public examinations, a school examination performance index was devised by the Department of Examinations in 1986, when I was Commissioner. The commonly used means of gauging school performance by the number of 4 A's and 8 D's at the GCE (A/L) and GCE (O/L) examinations is misleading as it may hide more valid aspects of performance such as the number of 4F's and 8F's. In the first performance index for GCE (A/L), of 1986, St. John's ranked second country-wise. In the last issued (1993), despite the travails suffered by Jaffna, St. John's still ranks second. As such there has to be something special about St. John's which needs to be recognised from a general perspective of school performance improvement. With regard to the history of this great school, I am indebted to the several newspaper articles published in connection with its 175th anniversary and particularly to the comprehensive and up-dated 'History of St. John's College', published in 1983. This publication contains a re-print of the history, compiled by J. C. Handy to commemorate the centenary in 1923, as Part 1, and that of the period 1923-1983, compiled by S. M. V. Tissainayagam, as Part II. In reading through this very comprehensive history one cannot fail to note the contribution made by the galaxy of her principals ranging from Rev. Knight the illustrious founder, through such more recent 'greats' such as, Peto (1920 - 1940), Arulanantham (1940 - 1957), Pooranampillai (1967 - 1976) and Anandarajan (1976 - 1985). I had the privilege of meeting only the last, Mr. Anandarajan, in connection with the School Project Work, in which Jaffna excelled, under the 1972 Educational Reforms. The 15 years of history from 1983 to 1998 covers the current period of strife in Jaffna as well in the rest of the country. For St. John's it is especially significant because principal Anandarajan, was one of the victims of the mindless cult of violence which characterises this period of our history. Before coming to that 'something special' that contributed to the greatness of St. John's, it would be in order to briefly look at the particular context which resulted in many of Sri Lanka's better schools being concentrated in the North. Early lead Jaffna had an early lead as regards education in its modern form which had its beginnings in the colonial period. Its geographical features and complete colonial subjugation two and a half centuries before the rest of the county permitted early and total penetration by the occupying colonial powers. Nevertheless there were other obstacles, not seen in the rest of the country which the missionaries had to overcome in Jaffna. The history of St. John's records in relation to the work of the founder principal Rev. Knight that, "The parents of the boys regarded the missionaries as outcasts. Indeed, we are told that it was usual for the pundit to go to the tank and bathe on his way home after giving his morning lesson (in Tamil) to the missionary". However, by 1786, during the Dutch occupation, "there were no less than 35,963 children in the schools of Jaffna" (Education in Ceylon, 1969). The first Seminary for the training to teachers established by the Dutch was also in Nallur, Jaffna, (ibid). This lead was followed up during the British period when, by the year 1888, 142 of the 1357 of the Government and grant-in aid schools were in the Northern Province. These schools provided for 1 in 10 of the population, far exceeding the ration provided for in any other province except in the Western Province where the ratio was the same. (ibid). Perhaps much more significant were the qualitative aspects. Jaffna schools took an early lead in the provision of College Departments in the High Schools. There curriculum even as early as 1872, included, "Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Surveying, Conic Sections and Calculus....Astronomy, Botany, Geology, Chemistry..." (ibid). "It was natural that this lead provided for greater opportunities for personal advancement. Thus with the social exemplars of success being the products of good education, it was also natural that education was perceived as the best patrimony to be bestowed on the young and supported as such. This perception has been an enduring feature of Jaffna as seen from the continued good performance of pupils at public examinations even under the severe hardships undergone by them in the post 1987 period." (from a recent study for the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Authority of the North-RRAN). In the search for that' something special' about St. John's one had only to look for the contribution made by the dedicated principals and devoted teachers as amply illustrated in the well documented history of the school. In this respect St. John's is not unique. The other great schools of the country share the same experience. An equally significant feature perhaps was the remarkable and eccentric personalities of the teachers. The memories of the pupils about their schools were invariably related to their associations with such teachers and as such they remembered what was taught by them. The history of St. John's quite correctly devotes much space to record the pupils' impressions about such teachers. It records of Mr. Godwin Arudpragasam, of the 1867 - 1889 period as 'a nice jolly soul teaching much and caning less, portly and very ponderous, and gifted with a tremendous capacity for laughing so uproariously that his whole system would be shaken to the verge of dissolution'. It also records of Mr. Martin Luther who 'taught the mysteries of Euclid's first book, of the smallness of the point, of the magnitude of the line, of the exacting nature of the demands of a postulate, of the transparency of an axiom, of the immutability of a right angle, of the perversity of an obtuse angle, of triangles standing on their heads, and of angles bashfully concealed on the other side (of the blackboard)." The effect on the pupils of the infusion of such passion into teaching even a subject such as Geometry; as compared with the present day pedagogically better designed but uninspiring lessons; can be imagined. The history of St. John's also records of Mr. Vannitamby (senior), who "lectured in Geometry athough he was Euclid's uncle. He seemed quite at home with the subtleties of the pons asinorum and divined the mind of the originator of that perplexity with the confidence of Euclid's executor or the next of kin. Geography - you would think he had been in all the British possessions and stayed in the principal hotels of the world. History - he knew Collier by heart and spoke of the great men in that book as though he had dined, breakfasted, and lunched with everyone of them from Odo to Wilkes". Common factors Pupils of other such schools from Ananda to Zahira, even of comparatively more recent vintage, could match such experiences with those of their own. The common factors are the passion infused into teaching by these great teachers regardless of the subject and their lovable eccentricities. As this note is concerned about reflective insights, it is appropriate to consider this aspect in the current context of teaching - learning in our schools. It is true that school teaching - learning today is narrowly examination-oriented and that too to meet the demands of an out-dated, 'sit-in', 'pen and paper only' and 'one-shot' summative examination system. The schools are largely redundant as a result of 'a seriously malignant by-product of this summative examination scheme, - the growth of a parallel but parasitic Meta-school system of tutoring". (ADB-PPTA Report, 1991). Although this situation has to be taken serious notice of and is one of the maladies expected to be addressed by the current educational reforms through such absolutely necessary measures as school-based assessment, I wish to draw the attention of the readers to another aspect of teaching - learning. This concerns the currently accepted pedagogical approaches. One would notice that our teachers are more specialised than those venerable teachers who taught Geometry as well as History and Geography. The new teachers are required to be objective in their approach to topics in the curriculum. They are expected to come prepared and 'teach to the point'. Perhaps the need for pupils to strive so hard to understand and remember what they are taught owes more to the 'dispassionate', 'objective' and 'totally relevant' approaches required by modern pedagogy. Perhaps in the pursuit of pre-decided objective oriented teaching, the human interest aspects are cast aside forgetting that teaching and learning are intensely human activities. It appears that we are dealing with two entirely different approaches, the older 'Great Tradition' to which belong all the great teachers from Socrates to the 'Vannitambys' of St. John's and the newer "Little Tradition" of teachers, taught to be competent in pre-deciding the objectives of a teaching exercise and disciplined to deal only with the 'relevant essentials' in teaching a topic. It is recognised that only good teachers belong to either tradition, the bad, the indifferent and the incompetent belong altogether to a different 'non-teacher' category. A clue to the modern phenomenon of pupils being 'overburdened by the school curriculum' and studying so hard and for long hours even in the lower grades, is provided by the Owering and Travers' studies in the U.S. in the sixties. The need for long hours of study is linked to the inability to generalise and extend from one phenomenon studied to a number of different situations where the principle related to the phenomenon is the same. Then each phenomenon has to be studied as a different one; everyone of them taking the same time to understand as the first studied. If the underlying principle is identified and examples of possible extension are also given there is no need to study all the different phenomena linked by a common principle as a separate one. The study quotes the instance of relating the buoyancy of an object in water to the rising of smoke from a chimney; the linking generalizer being the Archimedes' principle. It is called teaching for transfer of training. Anecdotes The tight lesson planning limited to one topic at a time does not permit teachers to gaily ramble along as the old teachers did. Another reason is the lack of distinctness of each lesson which hinders pupils from remembering the lesson and retrieving what was taught at a later date. The celebrated teachers of St. John's amply provided for this through the use of anecdotes and infusion of passion. Learning was often incidental and a pleasurable activity (apart from the caning freely practised in those times), instead of being a dull and routine chore. The conclusion of the 'Overing the Travers' studies is that "pupils trained under conditions involving a minimum number of irrelevant cues performed well on the tests that also involved a minimum cues, but performed poorly on the tests that involved a considerable number of irrelevant features. On the other hand, those trained in the presence of many irrelevant cues were equally successful at the testing of problems regardless of the extent they included irrelevant cues." It appears that teachers of the "Great Tradition" had anticipated these findings centuries earlier! Another important conclusion of these studies was that, "A principle taught in a rarefied environment (such as the sterilised, rigidly objective and dispassionate environment of our classrooms) that eliminates all irrelevancies does not prepare the individual to handle problems in a world filled with irrelevancies." Another important feature about such schools is the close identification of the school with the principal and teachers of a particular period of its history. In fact the history of St. John's is divided into chapters, often indicating the stewardship of the celebrated principals such as that of Mr. Evarts (1867 - 1889) (in which the activities of the teachers mentioned above are recorded) and of Peto as the 'Peto Period" (1920 - 1940). Similarly, to mention a few other instances at random, Ananda College can speak of the Kularatne era; St. Benedict's, the Luke era; St. Joseph's, the Le Goc era; St. Thomas' the 'Stone age'; Mahinda, the Woodward era; Trinity the Frazer era; Visakha, the Pulimood era; Wesley, the Highfield era and Zahira, the Azeez era. A similar tradition was seen to emerge during the first two decades of the institution of the Central College system, which were also the years in which these schools flourished. Therefore free education, per se, is not the cause of the reduction in the emergence of great schools. The practice of linking glorious periods of histories of schools with great principals continues as great principals continued to emerge, but not in the numbers one should have expected considering the rapid growth of the school system. The missing ingredient is the galaxy of great teachers associated with a particular period of a school and often covering more than one generation of pupils. Beginning in sixties, teachers including those of the former great schools, became a faceless itinerant mass whose association with a school was only transitory. The school was regarded by the bureaucracy as a physical facility to be supplied with men and material and not as a delicately balanced educational 'eco-system', dependent on symbiotic human relationships. This aspect is dealt with quite extensively in the Report of the Presidential Commission on Youth, of 1990 and according to which, "...there is something fundamentally wrong with our system of education as it has evolved over the years. The problem appears to stem, from the most part, from the fact that our political leaders have consistently believed that equality for the people can only be effected by a centralised state bureaucracy imposing unvarying standards and norms throughout the country. This centralisation may have resulted in some degree of equity but in the long run it has served to destroy the school as a dynamic community institution." Devolution Decentralisation or even devolution by itself will not change the situation as then the school will became a cog in the administrative wheel' (Youth Commission Report), of a perhaps more parochial and threateningly proximate local bureaucracy. The Youth Commission Report also recommends that, "any future educational policy should be centred on the autonomy of the school, giving expression to the aspiration that the school should be given back to the community." considering that the Youth Commission was dealing with a context that led to serious consequences, particularly in respect of the youth with adequate years of schooling, the recommendations have to be heeded. A recent study (1966) done by the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Education (SLAAED), for the World Bank, Sri Lanka General Education Project II, in respect of providing guidelines for curriculum development, devotes much space to this important consideration. This study refers to the school as 'an institution entitled to freedom'. This study refers to how the 'vestigial sense of independence' when, 'the principals and teachers have been able to provide for themselves a sense of purpose somewhat independent of the supra-school authorities", enabled the schools to function "during the recent period of previous social turmoil. "This has been strong enough to keep the schools functioning even during periods of social turmoil, when the intervention of these supra-authorities was minimal. This sense of purpose provided very effective in situations where the schools had to exercise a large degree of discretion and where the supra-authorities were themselves unprepared, as when project-work and continuous assessment were introduced. This vestigial sense of purpose has to be deliberately fostered by recognising and respecting it by means of the institution of nationally accepted goals linked to school related competency development. (as proposed by the new educational reforms). There is also the need to look at the school as an organism with its own purposes and sense of history. Its links to the social and physical environment as well as to its heritage has to be recognised, not only in handling the situation with care but also to purposefully utilise it to extend the broad aims of education to the community beyond. The respect for the school as an institution, entitled to a large degree of freedom, has to be demonstrated by allowing it a measure of flexibility in such matters as, deployment of teachers, selective emphasis of curricular and co-curricular components and time-tabling." This demonstration of the provision of a degree of freedom as the report argues could be through conceding to the schools the right to school-based assessment. Precious young "The school is a reputed institution to which the precious young population is entrusted in its formative years. Yet, ironically, the function of pupil evaluation for certification is not conceded to the only institution most competent to do so. The respect for the school as an institution is best fostered by conceding to it the function of evaluation for certification, with necessary safeguards... Any scheme of school system upgrading has to include a scheme to foster the independent self-respect for the schools through such measures as the conceding of pupil evaluation to the school system for a part of the certification process," (This aspect is now conceded under the new educational reforms). An event such as the 175th anniversary for the founding St. John's College, Jaffna, is an occasion to be celebrated. It is an occasion to pay our tributes to the dedicated principals and teachers who made St. John's College, Jaffna, is an occasion to be celebrated. It is an occasion to pay our tributes to the dedicated principals and teachers who made St. John's what it is and also for a re-dedication, with modifications, to their ideals as well as for a resolve to carry forward their vision and mission. I have no doubt that those associated with St. John's will do all this with genuine love and devotion. But for the country at large it should also be an occasion for reflection with a view to identifying features of St. John's as well as of other such schools which contributed to their greatness. It is also an occasion to look for reasons which hindered the proliferation of great schools since independence despite the laudable achievement of providing for a five-fold increase of school pupils and of the near total coverage in providing schooling to the school age population. It is also an appropriate occasion, poised as we are not to enter a new millennium and quite significantly with far reaching proposals for needed reforms in education. These reforms are unique in that they for the first time involve all the sub-systems of education and not reforms limited to only aspects such as the curriculum. They are also unique in that they are the result of study and reflection over a period of years and have features such as locally adaptable curricula, issue-oriented teaching and school-based assessment all intended to provide a greater and more independent role for the schools. For the first time curriculum development is to be based on overt and commonly accepted national goals linked to school learning competencies. Thus the framework has already been created for regional and school level adaptations of the curriculum and for provision of the required flexibility to be independently exercised by the schools. A strong national framework with clearly and overtly accepted goals can provide the basis for more freedom of the institutions at the periphery. Schools such as St. John's as exemplars of more independent institutions could can provide the direction needed for restoring a greater degree of autonomy for our schools. The mere function of schools such as St. John's in preserving the 'gene pool of experience' out of which a new more independent school system could sprout and grow is in itself a cause for celebration. Sterling Perera, was a former Director of Educational Planning and Research and a former Commissioner of Examinations and retired as an Assistant Director General of the National Institute of Education.

A Bygone Age.

By R.V.G. Daniel

Stepping back in time to the twenties and thirties, Ceylon was then a British colony. On account of her natural beauty she had been hailed as the Pearl of the Orient. Ceylon tea put her on the world map. There was peace, order and good government for her 4 million inhabitants. Development was mainly cultural. On the world scene the League of Nations was defining many of the Rights of men, women and children. Jaffna made pleasant countryside with market gardens, paddy fields, lowing cattle and flocks of sheep on pasture. The buggy cart and horse trap were gradually giving way to the growing number of motorcars. In spite of the industry of the people life was relaxed. It was not uncommon for students from all parts of the country, ethnic differences not withstanding, to come to the Christian schools in Jaffna for education as these schools were reputed to provide good education and discipline. The long years of service of the Church Missionary Society to the community in the field of education came to fruition in the centenary of their premier institution in the North, St John’s in 1923. This must have been the finest hour as they were already in the process of withdrawing from the Ceylon scene, their mission accomplished.. The Rev. Henry Peto M.A (Cantab) was the Principal of the college at this time. A year later H.R.H the Prince of Wales, (later Duke of Windsor) visited Jaffna. This was perhaps the first and last visit of British Royalty to this part of the country. The clock tower in Jaffna town was built in commemoration of this visitation. Before the end of the twenties the Ghandian struggle for independence in India had begun and continued throughout the thirties. The fight for freedom, the non-violent nature for the struggle and the simple way of life of Mahatma Ghandi appealed to the people of Jaffna and quite a few took to wearing Khaddar. About 1930 when Mahatma Ghandi visited Jaffna Peto invited him to address the College. He did so in the Robert Williams Hall seated cross-legged on the table on the platform. Some two three years later in the same hall a spellbound audience enjoyed a performance by Rabindranath Tagore and his troupe from Shantiniketan. These were two of the greats of the time. The Great Depression ran through the thirties. While it caused great hardships in industrialised countries it brought prosperity to Ceylon as the industrialised countries dumped their goods here giving the people a better life style in the westernised way. any seized the opportunities of the times to go in for higher education and to enter the professions. To a selected few the prestigious Civil Service was the goal. The catchword of the thirties was Boycott. In Jaffna it meant the boycott of the newly formed State Council. At that time politics in Jaffna was the preserve of a few learned men and this was perhaps the first instance when the armchair politics of the Tamils came to be translated into action. In India it meant the boycott of British goods in the struggle for independence and was there with satyagraha to baffle the ruler. Peto presided over the fortunes of St John’s during these two decades. The Ceylonisation policy of the Government made Peto the last Britisher to be the Head of the College. Peto was a gentleman from Cambridge, read in the Classics, and belonged to the elite of the time from whom men were picked for positions of responsibility and leadership. Accordingly he was the man of the hour to take St John’s into the next hundred years to meet the needs and aspirations of a plural society. He built upon the traditions of the past and put in place the facilities and structures necessary for the development of the child in body, mind and spirit. Apart from regular education students were able to pursue their interests and develop their talents in various fields including cadetting. The annual staging of Shakespeare’s plays took students to high standards of theatrical performance. Peto soon made St John’s one of the leading schools in the Island. About 1932 when he put the name of the 501st student on the roll he was so overjoyed that he made it a notable event by declaring a half holiday for the College. Peto’s interest in the behaviour of students went beyond the normal needs of maintaining discipline in the College. Upholding honour and fairplay at all times he used every opportunity that came his way to bring home to the students the ethical and social values which will stand them in good stead in life. Even the few who fell afoul of Peto took their medicine like a man which meant six of the best on the back before the entire College. They were not averse in later life to recounting their exploits and how Peto got around them and made men of them. He wanted every lad in the College to go out into the world first as a gentleman of honour and integrity. The tradition that he left behind was there to inspire his successors to still greater heights in their stewardship and to face the changes and chances that came their way in the post independence years. Although the people were not aware of it at that time the twenties and thirties were the closing years of an era. The rapid changes which began in the forties after Word War II transformed every aspect of life bringing the world to as we see it now. St John’s may well be proud of its record of service to the community over the last 175 years. In spite of the vicissitudes of time the College stands strong and high in public esteem as ever before.

Hartley College completes 160 years of service to education

By Chelvatamby Maniccavasagar (Extracted from Daily news of 29th July 1998)

The arrival of the British in Sri Lanka laid the foundation for the beginning of the growth of the Methodist schools especially after it had removed the ban on the Missionaries by the East India Company by an Act of Parliament in 1813. The Missionaries waited for this opportunity and made arrangements for the expedition in the East. It was at this time that John Wesley's Lieutenant Dr. Thomas Coke who had the reputation of having converted millions of people to Christianity sold his property and set sail for Ceylon as it was then called with six other missionaries in spite of his old age in December 1813 though Dr. Thomas Coke died, five missionaries arrived near Galle on June 29, 1814 and two of whom namely Lynch and Squance came to Jaffna in August the same year. After spending some days in the Jaffna peninsula Rev. Thomas Squance leased out a plot of land from one Nagappar of Point Pedro near the sea side where the present Methodist Girls College is situated. A building was constructed on that plot of land wherein a Tamil school was started and was functioning. In 1826 Rt. Rev. Peter Percival who was one of the Christian Missionaries came to Ceylon to convert the people of Ceylon to Christianity but in 1830 he was sent to Calcutta to start a Mission there. There his attempt proved futile. Later he came to Ceylon in 1832 when a remarkable change in the administration of British rule occurred as a result of the recommendation of the Colebooke Commission. This marked the significant event of their religion which eventually had its reflection on the education system. Rev. Peter Percival started the Jaffna Central School in 1834 and in 1838 started an English school in Point Pedro which was known as Point Pedro Wesleyan Mission Central School. Thus the founding of the school took place due to persistent efforts and aspirations of the Methodist Missionaries. The Point Pedro Wesleyan Mission Central School started by Rev. Peter Percival progressed well with about 50 students. However on account of the nature of the people prevailing at the time the number attending school fluctuated from time to time. Nevertheless due to the continuous effort and aspirations of Rev. Peter Percival the general committee in London was satisfied with the progress of the school and paid Ref. Peter Percival the sum of sterling pounds 400 in 1854 which he had incurred as expenses. Since its inception in 1838 it has been continuously functioning as a school except for a brief interval in 1860. It was in 1861 that the school was reopened with D.P. Niles, a graduate of the Batticaloa Seminary. As its Head Master from 1861 - 1868 he worked hard for the progress of this school and it was evident at a time when Jaffna Central College was in great difficulties on account of Hindu Religious revivalism. When D. P. Niles was transferred to Jaffna Central School Mr. Samuel Hensman succeeded him as Head Master of this school. Even during his time the Point Pedro Mission Central School was on the path of progress without any interruption. The British government abolished the Central Schools Commission in 1870 and instead the Department of Public Instruction was established. Accordingly Government grants were made available to the school on the results of the annual examinations which eventually led to a report by a Sub-Inspector W.H. de Alwis that this school performance was one of the best in the peninsula. However, with the passage of time, as changes took place during the British rule, people had to change their lifestyle. There developed a great desire for education, particularly among the middle class which had begun to grow in such a situation. The number started growing and in 1875 it has become a necessity on account of the increasing numbers to shift the school to the present site while allowing the old site to be used for the girls school. It is at this juncture John Chickering Thamotherampillai Sherrard became the Head Master of this school. He was so closely connected with the school and so popular among the parents of that area everyone began to call and refer the school as Sherrard's School, instead of using the name Point Pedro Wesleyan Mission Central School. Mr. Sherrard was systematic in his approach and was painstaking teacher. He had studied the people of the area and toiled hard for the development of the school and in the course of time it was upgraded which prepared the then candidates to sit the entrance examination of the Calcutta University. After his retirement the Management appointed S. A. Paulpillai as its Principal. He was a graduate of Madras University. Nevertheless Mr. Sherrard continued his assistance to S.A. Paulpillai and guided him well for the development of the school. S.A. Paulpillai was a reputed and successful teacher who proved his success with the very first batch of candidates for the entrance examination. This event opened the eyes of the authorities of the other leading schools. He was a disciplinarian and eventually died in 1906. After his death Stephen S. Kanapathipillai succeeded him as Principal. He too was a graduate of the Calcutta University. He was a keen sportsman and was himself a soccer player. He taught Mathematics and Science in such a manner as to create enthusiasm amongst the students in those subjects. He was functioning as its Principal till 1918 and resigned with the view to study Law. He was also selected as a teacher to conduct lectures for the first in Arts Students at Jaffna Central. In 1912 E. S. Abraham also a graduate of University of Calcutta was appointed as the Principal of this school. He showed great enthusiasm for Tamil Literature and inspired the students to learn Tamil. He had ability to select bright students and train them. He was unable to serve the school for a long period as he had to resign his post in order to serve the people of his birth place as Principal of Drieberg College, Chavakachcheri. The year 1915 marked a turning point in the history of this School when C.P. Thamotheram was appointed Principal. He was a Graduate of the Madras University and during his period of 28 years, significant changes occurred. The School was named as Hartley College in 1916 when Rev. Marshall Hartley laid a foundation for a Chemistry Laboratory and six class rooms in his second visit to Point Pedro as Secretary in the Mission House for the East. The building was completed in 1917. He was the pioneer of this School because of his tireless efforts and dedicated service, the school was given a face lift. Mention should be made of the late A. Kandiah, who was one of the first Chemistry teachers who later ended up as a Professor of Chemistry at the University. During Thamotheram's tenure of office, he had capable assistants, who played a vital role for the development of the College. Notable contribution was made by W. A. Walton, who was a veteran in Shakespeare's Plays. He inspired the students to take an active part in Shakespeare's Plays. Within a short period after he had assumed office, the school began to grow day by day. With the widening of he curriculum and demands of the Education Department, it became necessary to spend more money. This placed the Management in financial difficulties. The Synod of 1920, after deliberations, decided to concentrate to Jaffna Central School. But after a long debate, thereafter, the Synod decided to continue Hartley College as a Secondary School on condition that it does not seek financial assistance from the Missionary Society. Mr. Thamotheram took up this challenge and dedicated himself to run the School without any assistance from the Missionary Society. As a result of his tireless efforts and ability, the hall was renovated and some more class rooms came to be constructed. It is worth mentioning the fact a piece of land was bought to be used as a playground. At this time, the Hostel too, was shifted to the land in front of the playground. It was only after this event that sports activities such as Football, Cricket, Athletics were encouraged systematically. Thus, Hartley College also began to demonstrate that it is not second to any of the leading schools in the peninsula. Hartley's results at the Cambridge Examinations were exceptionally good. Scholarships were won especially in Mathematics and Science both at then University College and abroad. Hartley College earned its recognition as a leading school during Mr. Thamotheram's tenure of office. Mr. Thamotheram could be properly described as an all-rounder. He was a versatile teacher, who could teach any subjects whether it be Mathematics, English Literature or English, History with enthusiasm. He had a personal knowledge of every student. After a long period of 28 years as Principal of Hartley College, he retired in 1943 at the age of 60 years and the number on roll at this period stood at over 500. In 1943, Mr. K. Poornampillai succeeded him as Principal of Hartley College. He is a Graduate of the London University and a Postgraduate Trained at Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham. Like his predecessors Rev. Peter Percival and Mr. Thamotheram, he, too, rendered yeoman service to the development of this College. It would be proper to refer to Mr. K. Pooranampillai's period as the beginning of the 'golden era' in the History of Hartley College. The academic standard was maintained as he had his education in England. He had made the College a place for the acquisition of skills necessary for life. In order to achieve this objective, he widened the scope for extra curricular activities and formed school societies. This led to the people gaining experience and opportunities to undertake responsibilities in later life. One of the remarkable features of his ability was that he could see to every pupil participating in one or the other of the various activities in College. It was during his period the gymnasium was inaugurated, additional classrooms too were put up. He had his own system of conducting the examinations. He conducted the weekly test, monthly test and the term test and examined the performance of every pupil and brought it to the notice of the parents. It is this systematic approach adopted by Mr. K. Poornampillai which led Hartley College to demonstrate it's outstanding performances in the academic field. The training received at Hartley College paved the way for some of the outstanding products to accept responsible positions such as Speaker of Parliament, Vice Chancellors, Deans, Lecturers, Supreme Court Judges, Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, Accountants, Secretaries in the Ministries and Heads of the Banks, higher ranking officers in departments and even high ranking officers in the United Nations etc. both in Sri Lanka and abroad. Even the present speaker of Parliament K. B. Ratnayake admitted that on account of the education and discipline which he received at Hartley College he was able to achieve this position as Speaker. In fact, the education he received at Hartley was able to face problems in his life as a Parliamentarian and Minister with courage and fortitude. All these he admits on account of the education which he received at the hands of the dedicated, devoted and highly disciplined teachers and principals like C. P. Thamotheram and K. Poornampillai. After the relinquishing of office by Mr. Poornampillai as Principal at Hartley College M/s Ratnasabapathy MSc. (1967 - 1971) Mr. C. Rajadurai BSc. (1971 - 1973) Mr. P. Ahambaram B.Sc. (1973 - 1975) and Mr. W. M. S. Samuel B.A. (1975 - 1985) functioned as Principals with great, acceptance both by the students and the parents. S.P. Balasingham is a distinguished old boy of Hartley College who strained every nerve of his to keep the flag of Hartley College flying amidst tension and turmoil, when he was the Principal of Hartley College. Indeed Mr. Balasingham functioned as Principal during a critical and crucial period (ie.) during Vadamarachchi operation and (IPKF) Indian Peace Keeping force operation and was highly commended by the officials of the Ministry of Education, Members of Parliament and even ministers for the tremendous service he rendered during that period. Though Hartley College was started by Missionaries it became a government sponsored one in the early part of sixties. Even though Hartley College is a Government College at present all those who have gone through Hartley College are still grateful to their alma mater. Despite the turmoil and tribulations in the peninsula in particular and the country in general Hartley College has not failed in its duty to hold the torch of learning burning aloft and mould its students as useful citizens for the country.

175th Year Anniversary Celebrations

The 175th Year Anniversary Celebrations of St Johns’ College Jaffna in Australia took place between the 15th August and 4th September 1998. The highlight of the celebrations was the presence of the Principal Mr S Thanapalan and his wife Mrs Prema Thanapalan, who made themselves available for nearly a month in Australia to add lustre to the celebrations in Perth, Sydney, Canberra and Victoria, in the midst of their pressing responsibilities back home. We are all very obliged and convey our sincere thanks to Mr & Mrs Thanapalan. The Victorian celebrations started off with a Thanksgiving Service at St Stephen’s Anglican Church, Mt Waverley on the 22 nd August, followed by a "Hoppers Feast" in the church hall. Nearly 150 people attended the service and more than 200 were present to share at the hoppers feast. The service coordinated by Rev & Mrs AJC Selvaratnam and Rev Dev Anandarajan was very touching and precisely timed. The Principal Mr Thanapalan and his wife Mrs Prema Thanapalan were led into the church in a parade constituting of past Presidents and the current Committee, following Mast Mark Manokaran carrying the Johnian Flag. Mr Thanapalan gave a testimony during the service while Mr Richard Jeganathan ( a past President of the association who was instrumental in developing strong links directly with our Alma Mater ), Mr John Watson fro Trinity Grammar School, an institution playing an older brother role for St Johns’ in Victoria, Mrs Sharmini Eliezer, President of the OGA - CGS in Victoria and Dr M Sivakadadchan ( a former President of the association and our representative at the celebrations in Sri Lanka ) participated in the service. The Archbishop The Most Rev Keith Rayner and the General Secretary of the CMS Rev Bill Graham who could not be present at the service, sent felicitations to be read. The communion service conducted by Rev Selavaratnam and Rev Anandarajan with Mast Praveen Blanchard as the Altar Assistant concluded around 6.30 PM. The hoppers were supplied by Mr Boteju while the spouses of our committee members in addition to providing the meat curry worked very hard to add the ‘woman’s touch’ and maintain law, order and control through out the feast. A big thank you to all of them. Feedback in relation to the overwhelming success of this thanksgiving service is still being received and I am sure this function will remain fresh for many more to years to come. The "Red and Black Ball Winter Ball", this year, was commemorating the 175th Anniversary Celebrations and while preparations were going in Melbourne for this great day, Mr & Mrs Thanapalan were busy with interstate celebrations. The Ball, held on the 4th September was a resounding success with nearly 350 Old Johnians and Well Wishers in attendance. All guests were treated to a glass of champagne at the gates before being ushered to their seats. The decorations, the flower arrangements by Mrs Ida Devendran, the food by Joe Wallace, music by X Connections was considered by all as exemplary. The souvenir was of a very high class, thanks to Mr W S Manokaran for putting everything together and Mrs Sharmini Eliezer and Dr M Sivakadadchan for their assistance in proof reading, were in great demand. The souvenir has been sent all interstate and overseas branches and St Johns’ have requested for a dozen copies for their library. Our thanks to all who contributed by way of Articles, Poems, Songs and Messages to be included. Our sincere thanks are also due to the prize donors for the raffle, table and door draws and the baila competition, namely Allison Monk House, Franklin Mint, Singer, Mr Andrew Manokaran, Mrs Sharmini Eliezer and Mr Alagaratnam Dr Peter Selvaratnam, with his fluent compering added that extra brilliance, while Mrs Molly Daniel kept the gathering spell bound with her vote of thanks. All in all, the night’s proceedings were tremendous and am sure would be a night that will never be forgotten. My sincere thanks to many of our committee members, their spouses and children without whom this success would never have been possible. The Principal Mr Thanapalan and his wife Mrs Prema Thanapalan left the shores of Australia on the 7 th September, having been hosted by the Vyravipillais initially and the Ariaratnams finally. Mr Thanapalan summed up briefly before his departure, "This was the best I have seen for some time. Keep it up." Bala Rajadurai President Mrs Sharmini Eliezer, President - OGA CGS 160, The Boulevard, Ivanhoe. 27 October 1998 Dear Sharmini, Amalgamation of the Past Pupils Associations of St John’s College and Chundikuli Girls’ College We have in our previous correspondences during this year indicated that we are seeking feedback from our membership on the above subject and that our decision will be communicated to you hopefully after our 175 th Anniversary Celebrations are over. Having had no positive feedback to date, this committee does not intend to rush into a decision either way. The committee strongly believes that business should continue in the same manner as had been in the past until adequate feedback is received to enable the committee to take a decision. Since the Old Boys’ Association of St John’s College will be celebrating its 100 th Anniversary in 2004, many are of the opinion that the association should have its separate identity until the year 2004. On the request of the Principal, Mr Thanapalan, who was here for 175 th Anniversary Celebrations, the Victorian Branch has agreed to be a coordinating office for all other SJC Associations in Australia for a fund raising project for the 2004 celebrations, which is being negotiated currently. The acceptance of the Victorian branch as a coordinating office is based on it being an independent association. Accordingly, I am not in a position to pursue the amalgamation issue any further at this moment of time. Regards,

Yours sincerely,

Bala Rajadurai President

"The Light Shineth in the Darkness"

by Neville Jayaweera (Extracted from Sunday Island 25 October 1998)

Emblazoned across the crest of St John’s College, Jaffna is their luminous motto in Latin, "Lux in Tenebris Lucet", which translates into English as "The Light Shineth in Darkness". A darkness has rarely descended on our land that has been more dense and seemingly more immovable than the one that has settled over Jaffna and the Tamil people these past few decades. It is a darkness rendered the more intolerable by reason of its persistence and by the absence of any prospect of a new dawn. The flower of Tamil youth killed off in thousands, their homesteads and households broken up, their families dispersed all over the globe, their temples desecrated, essential components of a cohesive social order dismantled, deprived of the most basic necessities for civilised living and the and the community as a whole reduced almost to the stone age (mind you, all this inflicted on them as much by enemy within as by the enemy without) today, the people of Jaffna stand in need of the "light that shineth" more than ever in their long history. Considering that they make this awesome claim to be the custodians of the Light that the darkness cannot overcome, it is fitting and proper than in the year that marks the 175 anniversary of their birth, St John’s College Jaffna and its alumni both in Jaffna and elsewhere should reflect seriously on what their responsibilities are in relation to the encircling gloom. Its not sufficient that Johnians merely preen themselves upon reaching the impressive landmark of their 175th anniversary. They must also confront the tragic reality that towers over them and ask whether, hidden deep within the motto of their alma mater, there isn’t an answer and a way out. St John’s College Jaffna celebrated its 175th anniversary in May this year making it perhaps the oldest secondary school in Sri Lanka. Several articles have already appeared in newspapers as well as in a few magazines recording its’ many achievements in the academic field as well as in the sports arena, rendering any attempt by me to traverse the same ground superfluous and boring. What I would like to do is to reflect on two aspects of the education imparted by St John’s and also consider the relevance of its motto to the tragedy which St John’s and indeed the whole of the Sri Lankan Tamil community find themselves in today. The Old Park I would like to start on a personal note by recalling the many happy years I spent in Jaffna in the mid sixties as an administrator, when I was a neighbour to St John’s College. I am much indebted to the many young students of St John’s of that time, many of whom are today eminent professionals for teaching me what it means to be "good neighbour". The Old Park, as the Residency’s vast grounds were then called, used to be a grove to luxuriant mango trees whose branches, during the season, would be festooned with the most succulent mangoes one could ever hope to taste. Upon the ringing of the evening college bell scores of little Johnians would vault over my garden wall and swarm all over the mango trees despoiling me of my treasured fruits. I must confess that I was not always amused, indeed often chagrined, but at least I learnt at the hands of the boys of St John’s, the substance of patience, the virtue of sharing (albeit compulsorily) and good neighbourliness. I am very much in their debt. One of the many other recollections I have of St John’s was reading the references to the college in the diaries of two of my great predecessors as Government Agents of Jaffna, Sir Percival Acland Dyke (Govt. Agent Jaffna for forty years during the early and mid nineteenth century and referred to by locals as "The Rajah of the North") and of Sir William Twyneham who succeeded him (Govt Agent for thirty seven years). Contrary to popular belief, the missionary enterprise in Jaffna, pre-eminently represented by St John’s, did not find favour with Govt Agent Dyke. An epitome of the colonial pro-consul, authoritarian, haughty and distant, Dyke considered the missionaries as a threat to his own power base and even viewed their efforts to spread literacy and break down caste barriers among the Tamil people as an unnecessary meddling in the affairs of governance. He was no great believer, was unwilling to yield to a divinity higher than himself, and was not particularly attracted by the zeal of the missionaries to roll back the frontiers of "darkness". In fact he considered institutions like St John’s somewhat of a nuisance and many were the instances when he refused even to see the presiding principal. On the other hand Sir William Twyneham who succeeded him was himself more missionary than a stereotype civil servant and was always available to the missionaries and to the Principal of St John’s for little favours. Unlike Dyke who refused to accept recommendations from the Principal of St John’s on behalf of canditates applying for vacancies in the Kachcheri, Twyneham readily acceded. I believe that St John’s owes a great deal to the patronage it received from Twyneham. I seem to recall that the remains of Twyneham’s sister who lived on in Jaffna until she passed away in 1911, lie buried somewhere in St John’s Church graveyard. Cultural Roots The first aspect of education imparted at St John’s, which I would like to draw attention (indeed it was a characteristic of the education imparted in all missionary schools in Jaffna) was the way it contrasted sharply with the education imparted by similar schools in the Sinhala south, in respect of the impacts they made on local culture. Unlike in the south, the mission schools in the north never succeeded completely in weaning the locals from their cultural roots. World-wide, one of the most potent instruments of cultural domination has been missionary education. Admittedly while mission schools imparted literacy in one or other of the world languages and opened the minds of the local people to a knowledge base they would otherwise not have had access to, they also invariably undermined the local culture and even made the locals despise their historical and cultural inheritance. This was clearly evident among the Sinhala people who came under the influence of missionary education in the south. Indeed this influence was so pervasive that it spilled over even into the whole of the Sinhala culture touching even those who had never been to mission schools. By contrast, under the same influence Tamil culture survived and thrived. Distributing my working time as a public servant, among the Sinhala as well as among the Tamil people almost in equal proportion, I found this phenomenon quite perplexing. I had my own secondary education in two of Sri Lanka’s foremost mission schools in the south, one a High Anglican and the other a Roman Catholic. In both places, more so in the former the urge to speak one’s mother tongue and the instinct to live within one’s culture were consciously ridiculed and discouraged. Unless the ensuing distortion was corrected at home or at the local temple, an opportunity vouchsafed only to the children from Buddhist and Hindu homes, the majority of those from so called "Christian" homes grew up believing that they were the vehicles of a superior western culture. In actual fact, they were purveyors of a pseudo culture, straw men, hollow men, belonging neither to this culture nor the other. The question that demands an explanation is this. Why did this not happen among the Tamils of Jaffna? I say Tamils of "Jaffna" advisedly because the Tamils who settled down in Colombo and severed their links with Jaffna, lost their cultural genitalia as rapidly as did the Sinhalayo who came under missionary influence in the south. The missionary enterprise concentrated much more in Jaffna than in the south. It deployed more mission schools per head of the Tamil population, more missionary personnel, and more funds. It raised English literacy levels per capita above the levels in the south and certainly bequeathed to the Tamil people a stronger base for technological and scientific achievement. Actually, these intrusions should have served to erode the Tamils’ culture base more extensively than into the Sinhala south and yet it did not happen. To the contrary, the missionary enterprise in Jaffna seems to have strengthened the Tamils’ sense of cultural identity and even today at the fore front of the Tamils’ struggle, both at home and abroad, march the missionaries. If the erosion of Sinhala culture has to be blamed primarily on the mission schools and if as is often claimed were the villain, we need to explain why the same process did not work in Jaffna where the missionary enterprise was certainly more pervasive. Is it possible the Tamil culture has a factor built into it that rendered it more resilient? Is it Hinduism which down the centuries in India enabled the local tradition to integrate diverse foreign elements into itself without at the same time causing it to lose its’ essential identity? Has Theravada Buddhism’s openness and fundamentally empirical world view, despite the underpinning it has always provided to Sinhala culture, also made Sinhala culture more susceptible to erosion…? This is a paradox which I can only pose but must leave to the more knowledgeable to answer. The other aspect of the education imparted at St John’s to which I would like to draw attention is the strong value system upon which it rests. Schools like St John’s embodied a specific world-view, within which education was seen as being more than an exercise for imparting information and knowledge. This concept of education holds that the development of character and the integration of the students personality around strongly held core values is more important than merely acquiring information and knowledge or passing exams. Values such as wholeness, unfoldment of the total personality, discipline, integrity, loyalty, respect for the rights of others, respect for authority and not least, excellence in whatever task one undertakes, were placed on the same level as acquiring information and knowledge. Consequently, students of St John’s College indeed whoever went through schools that subscribed to a similar value system, generally distinguished themselves in public life as men and women of integrity and character. St John’s in that sense a centre of excellence, in the best classical sense of the term I should know, because during my time in the public service I had the opportunity to work with several products of St John’s and without exception they all distinguished themselves as models of efficiency, discipline and impeccable probity. Contrary to the view that schools like St John’s should be banished from the field of education, a view which was not only common in our country in the sixties but was embodied as government policy and systematically carried out, I believe that they have even a greater role to play today than ever in our history. Throughout our land, within Jaffna as well as elsewhere, we see today a steady retreat from excellence, the enthronement of mediocrity and the abandonment of those values which schools like St John’s strove to inculcate in their students. Integrity has yielded to opportunism and the commitment to principles abandoned in favour of naked cynicism. Values that we learn in school to comprise the fabric of a civilised society have all but evaporated leaving behind a vast moral vacuum. Standards among those holding public office, whether in politics or in the public services or in the professions, which by the criteria we imbibed in our schools are so degrading as to be even unthinkable, now tend to be condoned as the norm. Except occasionally for a blast from an embattled media , the voices of many of our intellectuals and our religious leaders, to whom more than to any other group should belong the obligation to sound the trumpet of protest, have fallen silent. To the contrary, some of them seem even to have jumped the bandwagon of opportunism and collaboration. Even worse, the intrepid few among them who dig in and refusing to be swept away but strive valiantly to live by their high values, are pushed to the periphery and are relegated to the status of dinosaurs. Such is the abyss from which we now have to climb out. Moral Energy It is in this context that St John’s of Jaffna must recover the faith and the moral energy to persist in its commitment to those values: which will always define what is good and noble in the human condition and which regardless of the clamour of the barbarians at the gate, are worth preserving for all time. The task to put it mildly, is Herculean, not least because of the destruction and desolation which surrounds the College on all sides. However those who subscribe to the values which St John’s embodies can take heart, for history teaches us that societies and cultures which were at one time reduced to a wasteland, went back to their spiritual roots and found therein the nourishment to reintegrate and launch out on a new life. This however does not happen spontaneously. It calls for leaders, for men and women imbued with a high vision and a nobility of spirit. It is not sufficient merely to be intelligent or educated. It also requires leaders who yet retain a gleam in their eyes and within whose trembling hearts, despite the enveloping darkness, a candle still burns. It requires "resurrection power", an extraordinary experience vouchsafed to all who have opened themselves to the high vision and are prepared to venture out in faith. Let St John’s contemplate again its’ awesome motto - "Lux in Tenebris Lucet" - the light shineth in darkness. As they well know these words are taken from St John’s Gospel and the "Light" referred to is Jesus Christ. The line that follows is really the bedrock of hope for it says "but the darkness shall not overcome it". To return to its spiritual roots means pre-eminently to grasp again the vision of perfection and the awesome power embodied in that "Light". Let the Johnians of today therefore recapture again that image of perfection and give expression to it in an idiom that is consonant with their own cultural inheritance. May I close by quoting some words of encouragement with reference to that "Light", from the same source where St John’s College discovered its motto.

Behold my servant whom I uphold, ……I have put my spirit upon him; He will bring forth justice to the nations, ……He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not fail or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for His law. ……He will lead the blind by a way they know not of, in paths they know not of He will guide them. He will turn their darkness into light, Yes, the rough places into level ground. These are the things He will do and He will never forsake them. (Isiah 42)

An Appeal from the Principal

At an informal meeting of the committee with Principal Mr Thanapalan, while he was in Australia, an interest was expressed by him to construct a building to mark the Centenary Celebrations of The Past Pupils’ Association of St Johns’ College Jaffna, in the year 2004. To be able to complete this monument by the year 2004, he indicated that construction should begin at least by the year 2001 and appealed for a contribution from Australia for about $ 50,000 by 2001. He requested the Victorian Branch to be the coordinator for this project depending on the responses and based on the strength of the association in Victoria, was expecting Victoria to contribute $ 20,000. Although this looks a large expectation, the fact that we have about 120 members on roll and about 3 years to achieve this target, the expectation is not an impossibility if only we cared to analyse the situation a little. For all what St Johns’ has done for us for what we are today, a mere .20 cts contribution a day from each of the 120 members starting from 1 January 1999 for the next 3 years will certainly help reach the $ 20,000 mark. The committee acknowledges and appreciates that there may be difficulties some could face and certainly do not intend to pressure anybody. The new committee is expected to undertake this matter further and may write to you personally. You do not have to reply if you do not want to be part of this project but would certainly expect some form of commitment from those who wish to join to assist towards this appeal. Await further information in the future

Bala Rajadurai