Locals Petition Trustees Over Irregularities At Jaffna College

M. A. Sumanthiran

OCTOBER 29, 2017

Colombo Telegraph has brought out several reports (Links: Report I, Report II, Report III) about the administrative malpractices at Jaffna College, Vaddukoddai since the fiduciary Trustees based in Boston who send money to the school reduced the funds allocated to Jaffna College for the first quarter of the year 2017 by 20% in January (Link: Letter). As we reported earlier, the Trustees reduced the allocations for the second quarter of 2017 as well by 20% (Link: Letter). In their last communication regarding reforms emailed to the Rt. Rev. Dr. Daniel Thiagarajah, the Chair of the Board of Directors, in July, the Trustees have expressed their dissatisfaction with the responses sent by the Board on the reforms they prescribed and conveyed their decision to reduce the funds for the third quarter of the year 2017 by 20% (Link: Letter). The Trustees also requested the Board to address the gaps in their responses before the 30th of September 2017. A decision on the allocation of funds for the last quarter of the year is still awaited.

Sumanthiran meets the Trustees in Boston

Bishop Daniel Thiagarajah

In the meantime, TNA Parliamentarian Mr. M.A. Sumanthiran met the Trustees in Boston when he was on an official visit to the US in September. Although an administrator of Jaffna College, who is often used by the leadership of the Board to manipulate the staff, alumni and the local community, was involved in spreading the rumor that Mr. Sumanthiran visited the Trustees at the latter’s request, the Trustees state they met Mr. Sumanthiran informally at the request of the Chairperson of the Board. A communication issued by the Trustees following the meeting indicates that matters related to Jaffna College and Uduvil Girls’ College were not discussed in detail at this meeting (Link: Letter). The Trustees have also clarified that their commitment to the goals of good governance and transparency at the two schools remain unchanged. Several old students of Jaffna College have condemned Mr. Sumanthiran’s unnecessary and biased involvement in the affairs of Jaffna College while appearing as the lawyer of the Chairperson of the Board in the court cases that the Chairperson is facing.

Locals petition the Trustees demanding an end to JDCSI domination

A few weeks ago, 210 locals from Vaddukoddai and neighboring villages who identify themselves as members of the communities that Batticotta Seminary and Jaffna College have served since the former’s inception in 1823 sent a petition to the Trustees about the administrative irregularities at Jaffna College (Link: Petition in Tamil, Link: English Translation of the Petition). In their statement, they have extended their support to the reforms prescribed by the Trustees. The petition notes that the community has lost faith in the current Board of Directors who, the signatories allege, are responsible for the mismanagement of the school.

The signatories have made it clear that Jaffna College should continue as a Christian institution, but as a non-denominational one that cannot be controlled by any single religious entity. The petition observes that concentration of powers in the hands of a few members of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India (JDCSI) is the main reason for the problems that Jaffna College is facing today. The signatories also demand that the Trustees appoint a group of trustworthy individuals, which includes representatives from all the major Protestant churches in the North, eminent educationists, alumni and parents, to administer the funds sent to the school and that this body be eventually made the Board of Directors of Jaffna College replacing the current Board dominated by the JDCSI.

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