In this section
History
Amy Goodchild
Maud Willis
Dr Emily Mutthama Thillayampalam
Sarah Mathai
Sarawathy Chelliah
Padma Jeyaweerasingam
Pushpa Rajaratnam
Acting Principals of the past
Mary Carter, founded Chundikuli Girls’ College in 1896 on the persuasion of a Mr Alfred Hensman who wanted his daughters to have the same standard of education as that of his sons. James Carter the husband of Mary Carter was the Principal of St. John’s College, Jaffna. The Carters vacated a wing in their bungalow for lodging the girls. The South-West corner of St. John’s College compound, about two acres in extent containing the Principal’s bungalow and office buildings was fenced off for the girls’ school. They started a school for nine girls on January 14, 1896. By the end of that year, there were thirty on the roll. Mary Carter went on to persuade the Church Missionary Society of London to take the school under its wing and succeeded. At its inception, the most significant characteristics of the school was that school was fun (not so much lessons and examinations) and freedom was the essence of it. To the first pupils what Chundikuli did was to give them a kind of freedom they had not experienced before. Neither in their homes nor in the Tamil Boarding Schools from which many of them had come. Rev. and Mrs Carter took them out almost everywhere, and the tradition grew, that there was no stigma or impropriety in young ladies going out anywhere, even to weddings of school mates in the company of the lady principal. Everywhere Mr and Mrs Carter moved as one with them. Alas, in June 1899, Mary Carter died at her third child-birth. It was a day of great mourning for the school. She lies buried in St. John’s church cemetery in Chundikuli, Jaffna. Within a small span of 30 years how much she accomplished! Her selflessness, devotion and determination to run the school as its founder will never be forgotten. Miss Annie Hopfengartner is said to have remarked that she knew of no one who dressed with better taste than Mrs. Carter. She was a gracious and beautiful person and her husband a man of true humility and energy, who supported her wholeheartedly in all her endeavours.