| BIRTH AND GROWTH OF SRI SHANMUGA HINDU LADIES' COLLEGE |
This College, established in 1923,
was celebrating 75th year of service to
the young lasses of Trincomalee, imparting education in
a strictly Hindu atmosphere. Most people of the present
generations may not be aware of the birth and the growth
of this institution through the years. It is with the intention
of enlightening such people that we present here a history
of the College and pertinent information about its founder,
Mrs. Thangamah Shanmugampillai and her
spouse, who together invested all their resources for the
establishment of this college.
The early part of the 20th century was a period when the
modern city life was unheard of, when life centered around
villages and horse carriages were the sign of prosperity.
It was a time when an English education and English culture
were things sought after. However, Trincomalee, famous for
its natural harbour and Koneswera temple produced many service
oriented philanthropists who were keen on preserving the
Tamil language and Tamil culture.
There were many obstacles in attracting students during
the early days of the inception. St Mary’s college
conducted by Catholic nuns, had already earned an enviable
reputation as an English Medium school with discipline as
its secondary concern. Hence, most parents, even most Hindu
parents, ignored the new school. A Small number of children,
mostly from the poor families of Trincomalee, enrolled in
this school. The founder had to obtain the services of a
teacher from Jaffna and at times had to send out her horse
carriage to collect the children and bring them to school.
Realising the value and need for an English medium education
in a country ruled by the British Raj, she constructed 90'
x 25' hall in 1926.This hall was declared open by a close
friend of her husband, an
eminent educator and the founder of Ramanathan College in
Jaffna, Sir Ponnampalam Ramanathan. Miss. Bavani Narayanan,
from India was appointed the administrator of the English
division, Consequently, more parents who wanted an
English education for their daughters but valued the Hindu
culture and traditions began sending their children to this
college.
In 1929, Miss. Nagamma Murugesu completed
her teacher training at 18yrs of age and took over the administration
of the Tamil division of the College. The dedicated and
selfless service of this lady for 41 years is a part and
parcel of the growth and progress of this College. Affectionately
called “Nagamma Akka”, she contributed to the
educational progress of many impoverished female students
of Trincomalee. By her selfless service she earned the love
and respect of our founder. While the Tamil section was
under the administration of this hardworking lady continuously,
the administration of the English division was changed once
in three years as the English teacher administrators from
India signed contracts only for a three year period of service.
As a result of this the English division faced certain constraints.
In 1942, during the Second World War, Trincomalee was a
major Army and Navy base. Hence, Trincomalee was bombed
in this year causing the people to be displaced and take
refuge in villages far away from the town. The college was
reluctantly compelled to be closed and served as barracks
for the armed personnel. When the situation improved, the
school was re-opened in 1946 under Miss. S. Selvanayagi
Nagaratnam, a native of Trincomalee. She will be
remembered as Trincomalee's first female Ascetic, Rev. Sivananda
Mathaji and the founder of Sivananda Thapovanam, an orphanage
for girls.
During this period of history there were no Sinhala medium
schools in Trincomalee. To cater to the needs of the Sinhala
lasses in Trincomalee, a Sinhala Division was inaugurated
at Sri Shanmuga Hindu Ladies' College. One Mrs.
Silva from the south of Sri Lanka was she first
Sinhala teacher here. Later she served as the Principal
of the Sinhala M.V, Trincomalee.
This school which had two streams, English and Tamil, administrated
separately was brought under a single administration in
1951. Nagamma akka who had served with
dedication and selflessness for 22 years was the first Head
mistress of the combined school.
A small hostel, three roomed with a tiled roof and a G.
I. Sheets roofed Hall on vidyalayam street served to lodge
girls from far away villages who studied here. Pandit Miss.
Sinnathamby was the resident warden of the hostel. Mrs.
Thangammah Shanmugampillai handed over the administration
of the college to her close relative Mr. N. Krishnathasan,
District Judge, in 1953. She died in her 90th year with
her beloved school reaching 30 years of Educational service
having seen her dreams for the progress of her beloved institution
being realized. This brought about many changes in the same
year. The hostel was shifted to a land across the road,
where the present Shanmuga Girl’s Home is situated.
Some members of the staffs were also found accommodation
here.
Mrs. Mani Rahavachchiyar, a film director,
administrator from India, encouraged the fine arts during
her tenure as Principal. 1966 can be called a milestone
in the history of this College. For the first time, a native
of Jaffna, Mrs. W. Thangarasa, became the
first Ceylonese Principal of the College. She was also very
keen on improving our students' ability in arts and culture.
Due to her efforts our students annexed the first place
in the music and dance competitions conducted by the Ministry
of Education in collaboration with UNESCO.
To fulfill the needs of students desiring science education,
a LAB was constructed and quality science teachers from
Jaffna were brought down, providing them lodging facilities.
Thus, in 1960, Sri Shanmuga Vidyalayam
was elevated to the position of a grade II school. Sri Shanmuga
Vidyalayam was taken over at the end of this year along
with other denominational schools by the Government. Many
changes took place after the change of administration. The
teachers' hostel became the Shanmuga Girls Home. In 1965,
a home science LAB was opened in the school premises
1960 can be considered a fruitful year for the college.
A native of Trincomalee and past pupil of the school and
a teacher with 12 years of dedicated service, Miss.
R. Visvalingam was appointed Principal of the college.
The fact that the college progressed in every aspect of
education during her tenure as principle cannot be denied.
All her thoughts and efforts were centered on the future
progress of the College. In this year, the Hall which was
demolished by the cyclone was rebuilt and was declared open
by Mr. Hettiarachchi, the Education Officer
of Trincomalee.
In the exhibition conducted to celebrate the educational
Diamond Jubilee in 1969, our school was awarded many prizes
and began to be considered as one of the best schools in
the island. By the inspiration of the parent teachers association,
the tireless efforts of the Principal and eagerness of the
students, HNCE classes were started in 1976, opening a new
chapter in the history of the college. This division consisted
of Science, Commerce and Arts streams. Not only girls from
Trincomalee but from the outlying villages, too, sought
and gained admission to the College to read for the HNCE.
In 1977, the college was blessed with great assistance from
Hon. R. Sampanthan, M.P for Trincomalee.
On a visit to the school, he observed the congestion prevailing
in the school and provided additional accommodation to ease
the situation while praising and appreciating of the good
work done by the school authorities.
In 1978, for the first time in its history the school sent
students to the arts faculty, which became an inspiration
to other students to follow suit in the same year, a part-time
vocational training course was started by the Education
Ministry aimed at school leavers. They were taught sewing,
English, typing and other skills which was a boon to school
dropouts, providing them an opportunity to make a living
for themselves.
It was also in 1978 that financial assistance was received
to construct an overhead tank and to purchase instruments
for the college western band to be formed. The untiring
efforts of the Parent Teacher Association and the timely
assistance rendered by the Member of Parliament for Trincomalee
resulted in an adjoining plot of land being requisitioned
for the college. A two storeyed building was constructed
in this new plot of land from funds allocated from the decentralized
budget of the M.P for Trincomalee. Consequently, the congestion
in the school was eased to a certain extent.
1979 was a happy year for the school. With an additional
building constructed in this year, for the first time in
the history of the school, 21 students including
3 for medicine gained admission to the University.
From this year onwards, our school has been sending a good
number of students to the different faculties of the Universities.
The perseverance of our staff, past pupils and well wishers
resulted in the collection of sufficient funds from the
generous people of Trincomalee to construct a two storeyed
building to lodge 20 girls from the outlying villages who
had gained admission to read for the G.C.E (A/L) examination.
Thus, this hostel named in memory of the founder
Mrs. Thangammah Shanmugampillai solved a long standing
problem faced by the students.
1983 was a sad year for all Sri Lankans because of the commencement
of the Ealam war but it was also a happy year for the alumni
of the school. On the 30th of March in that year the completed
two storeyed building and the hostel constructed to ledge
out of town students were ceremoniously opened by Hon
R.Sampanthar, M.P for Trincomalee. This hostel
also served as a refuge for the students of our college
who were adversely affected by the ethnic violence of 1983
and 1990.
The staff and students of our school were made to shed tears
of blood in May, 1997 when its Principal Mrs. R.Thanapalasingam
lost her life under tragic circumstances. A bomb thrown
at late Mr.A. Thangathurai, M.P for Trincomalee, exploded
killing her and many others assembled for a function at
the entrance to the college.
It is pertinent to mention here that in compliance with
Departmental instructions, English medium education commenced
in 2004. At present Grades 6 and 7 have English medium classes.
An Information Technology Education Centre
was also opened providing instructions to teachers and students
in Computer programming and allied activities. A website
www.trincoshanmuga.sch.lk was also inaugurated
in the college with the hope that it will enable us to keep
our past students and well wishers, domiciled in various
countries of the world to obtain information about the activities
and progress of their Alma Mater.
From the early days, Sri Shanmuga gave prominence to vocational
training to its students. Embroidery, pottery, gardening,
making paper flowers were some courses conducted even when
S hanmuga Vidyalayam was a private school.
It may be mentioned here that some of these students have
used their training to earn a livelihood.
The present Principal, Mrs. Chandra Balasubramaniam,
blessed with a sense of creativity, with the assistance
of the efficient staff, the School Development Society
and active Past Pupil's Association is guiding the present
generation of students on the path to success in life.
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