The Ministry of education was firmly established and was a major apostolic involvement of the Jesuits in Sri Lanka. There were three prominent schools managed by the Jesuits, such as St Aloysius College, Galle, St Michael’s College, Batticaloa and St Joseph’s College, Trincomalee. These have come to the limelight and prominence in the field of education and sports and the students whom the Jesuits educated recognized the value of such education and the parents preferred to send their children to these schools. 

     In 1970 the Jesuit Colleges had to be handed over to the government during the period of the State “take-over” of private schools in the country. Since these colleges were completely private, the Jesuit management had to raise the funds to maintain and develop the three colleges. Mostly it was a financial strain that triggered the handing over. From then onwards there had been a standstill regarding the formal education apostolate of the Jesuits in Sri Lanka.  The Jesuits continued even after the handover of the colleges to be lecturers and chaplains of government universities in Peradeniya, Jaffna and Batticaloa. Even though the Papal seminary was shifted from Kandy to Pune (India) in 1955, Jesuits continued teaching in the newly established National Seminary as a contribution to the formation of the clergy in Sri Lanka. 

      Although Jesuits had given up the schools in 1970s there were several initiatives started in terms of technical education and English Academies.  The Cholankanda Youth Training Centre (CYTC) is established to guide and train the youth who find it difficult to pursue higher education. The centre aims to equip the students with vocation training and help them in employment. The rural Sinhalese and the Plantation Tamil youth who have stopped their formal education due to various reasons, are the beneficiaries of this institute. The Academies in Galle, Batticaloa and Trincomalee vision to empower the poor and rural youth for better employment through training in English language and computer. In 2010 Rev Fr Bernard Jayasinghe s.j initiated a process of starting a Jesuit High School in Galle. After obtaining the necessary permissions and approval, Mount Calvary High School began its first academic year with 36 students in the first grade. As per plan, the different grades of the School will be increased as the first batch of students progresses ahead annually.

Curtesy

Jesuits Srilanka