Kandy’s Mowbray College turns 100 on May 17

The CMS (Church Missionary Society) initially started Mowbray as a home for Bible women and it then transformed into a secondary mission school. The founders Miss A. Earp and Miss L. Denyer were young missionaries from South Africa and England. Their counterpart Miss E. Bellerby’s intervention to promote education to young women in the highlands would have set their own tone to work on the mission for upcountry regions.

The school started out as an English medium school for Tamil girls and from small beginnings, blossomed into a flourishing enterprise with the amalgamation of two other schools from Colombo and Gampola, taking the subsequent decision to remain a private school when nationalist waves across the country led to the schools’ takeover.

The school’s journey was hampered when nearly a million up country Tamils lost their voting rights, reducing their percentage numbers from 33 to 20 as they proceeded to India with mostly the younger population and by the ethnic tension which saw a reduction of students (Mowbray was at that time attracting students from the north).

Yet through ups and downs, Mowbray can now be easily placed in the 21st century. Combining the traditional formation with the hostel system, spirituality, culture, aesthetics and discipline, the school has also infused state of the art edu-technology, an enhanced cocurriculum, career guidance, character formation and other language and subject combinations commen

surate with a 1AB school.

So at the end of a one century, what of the future? In terms of Christian mission schools, the answer is always straightforward. They are to continue to trace the mission that they inherited from their founders and become a witness to that extraordinary philosophy in education. In this three main objectives can be laid as follows:

Mission as was felt by the earlier missionaries was a task of integration. Even today there is a strong multicultural aspect, with qualities of respect, dignity, humility and integrity being focused to children almost as much as any other curriculum.

Secondly, mission schools aim to inculcate a strong family feeling in their students and the community alike. The school’s traditions, teachers, past students, parents, the church,

the neighbourhood are all elements in which this family feeling is grown onto. From hostel life to the house system, from a strong spiritual basis of whatever religion one may belong to coupled with elements of team work, outreach and social engagement, this is achieved. The firmest lessons of equality, care and love as envisioned as the greatest teaching in the Christian faith all converge on translating this familial spirit into practice.

Thirdly unlike being an academiccentred philosophy of education, the stress in mission schools is to develop the whole person. The efforts of missionaries for girls’ education lived by the simple ‘you are God’s creation, wonderful in every way, equal and full of potential as any, and you are able to accomplish anything in life’. The challenges the early mis

sionaries would have faced were severe and even life threatening. All those who have passed through the hallowed doorways of these mission schools have them to thank for all their accomplishments.

Many would undoubtedly argue whether all schools mentioned in this category do actually endeavour to strive towards these high ideals. And the answer must always be it is a work in progress with a clearly defined vision and a mission. They are called to play a minute role in the mission of the divine and make sure to leave a better impression than what they inherited and in doing so to bless the many. This is indeed the task ahead for mission schools and especially for Mowbray at the turn of the century.

Mowbray is currently headed by Principal Ms. Manoranjani Kingsley.