Uduvil Girls' College Explained

Uduvil Girls' College
Native Name:உடுவில் மகளிர் கல்லூரி
Motto:The Truth shall make You Free
Coordinates:9.7346°N 80.016°W
District:Valikaamam Education Zone
Authority:Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India[1]
Principal:Miss Mathuramathy Kulendran
Grades:1-13
Students:~1,500
Houses:Agnew, Winslow, Howland, Bookwalter
Colours:Blue, green, red, and yellow
Song:"Oh Uduvil! Dear Uduvil!"

Uduvil Girls' College (Tamil: உடுவில் மகளிர் கல்லூரி Uduvil Makalir Kallūri, UGC) is a girls private school in Uduvil, Sri Lanka.[2] [3] Founded in 1820 by American missionaries, it is one of Sri Lanka's oldest schools.[4] [5]

History

See also: American Ceylon Mission and Batticotta Seminary. In 1816 American missionaries founded the American Ceylon Mission in Jaffna. The ACM established missions in other parts of the Jaffna peninsula including one in Vaddukoddai. The ACM established numerous schools on the peninsula, the first school being the Common Free School (Union College) in Tellippalai. In 1820 the Uduvil Seminary was established in Uduvil. It was situated in an abandoned Franciscan mission built by the Portuguese. Harriet Winslow (1796–1823), a missionary turned it into an all-girls school in 1824. It was called Missionary Seminary and Female Central School.

Uduvil has had eight principals at its helm. Eliza Agnew took over as principal after Harriet Winslow then followed by Susan Howland and Lulu Bookwalter, Uduvil's last American principal. Ariam Hudson Paramasamy was the first Sri Lankan principal, and was followed by Saraswathy Somasundaram in 1970 and Chelvi Selliah in 1982. She was followed by Cherry Mills.[6] In her period the school had a great time with competitions. Uduvil's current principal is Suneetha Patricia Jebaratnam.

The school today

There are three specific units in the school namely, the Primary, Secondary and the Further Education Program. The secondary section prepares students for local examinations in the Tamil medium and English medium. The Further Education Program (FEP) aspires to strengthen students through skills development such as accounting, music, English and IT. The Eliza Agnew Business Processing Outsourcing Centre trains school leavers on online accounting and IT skills.

190th Anniversary

Uduvil Girls’ College celebrated its 190th anniversary in the year 2014.

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Crisis At Uduvil Girls College, Jaffna – A Report . 8 July 2020 . Colombo Telegraph . 11 September 2016.
  2. Book: Schools Basic Data as at 01.10.2010. 2010. Northern Provincial Council. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001953/http://notice.np.gov.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85%3Anpc-schools-basic-data-as-on-01102010. 2013-12-03.
  3. Web site: Province - Northern. Schools Having Bilingual Education Programme. Ministry of Education. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001342/http://www.moe.gov.lk/web/images/stories/branchnews/bilungual/np.pdf. 2013-12-03.
  4. Book: Jayawardena . K. . Zakaria . R. . Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World . Verso UK . Feminist Classics . 2016 . 978-1-78478-430-0 . 1 May 2023 . 210.
  5. Book: Development Assistance Programs of U.S. Non-profit Organizations in Bangladesh . Technical Assistance Information Clearing House. . TAICH country report . 1974 . 1 May 2023 .
  6. http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20050123/witness-to-the-tsunami-recounts-harrowing-tale Witness to the tsunami recounts harrowing tale