History
Jaffna Central College be the nation builders with nearly for two centuries of traditions. Jaffna Central College was founded on first of August 1816 by Rev. James Lynch and Rev. Thomas Squance with the vision of producing students of the best and highest standards for the glory of god. The motto of our college; “IN GLORIAM DEL OPTIMI MAXIMI” bears evidence for its vision which the institution is striving to attain. In accordance with United Nations declaration, “Education for All” this institution as a distributive channel of knowledge has rendered yeoman services. In order to achieve this vision, Centralites undertake the mission of moulding and shaping characters of young people who are the life blood of the society. So far, their successors have succeeded in this formidable task. Their first and foremost achievement is School to all social strata irrespective of caste, creed or race and thereby paving the way for the underprivileged and downtrodden to enter into the portal of English education which was denied at that time to the poor. The college was the pioneer to introduce the chemistry, physics, biology and commerce stream subjects and achieved another milestone by introducing cricket and football for the first time in the annals of Jaffna. This revolutionary move in the sphere of education brought about many changes in the Jaffna society. It is a fact that Jaffna Central College was the pioneer institution which has produced intellectuals, Intaking of Sinhala, Muslim Burgher and Tamil students to this school enabling the Jaffna youths to get socialized. The Cordial relationship that had existed between Rev. Peter Percival and SriLaSri Arumuganavalar symbolized religious secularism. This even led to the translation of bible into Tamil by an ardent Hindu for the first time in the annals of history. Hon. Kalayogi Dr. Anandakumarasamy, Hon. Mahathhma Gandi, Hon. Sir William Manning and Hon. Mrs. Olave Baden-Powell glorified the institution by setting their foot in its soil. The traditionally significant place, Muttaveli lies in close proximity, with soothing breeze blowing across and surrounded by important land marks such as the asset of the intellectual the public library, the majestic tower with Big Ben embedded clock tower, the temple of judiciary the court complex, children to enjoy Subramanium Park, lad and lass enhance the extracurricular activities Duraiyappa stadium and to light the world the Methodist church which have enhance the elegance of this school. Dr. Ethirweerasingam, a student of Central, excelled in high jump at the Olympic Games. This bears ample testimony to the fact that Jaffna Central provides an all-round education. Thousands of old boys have stood by their Almamatter to achieve its goal.