| Holy Family Convent | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| Vembady Road Jaffna, Jaffna District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka |
|
| Information | |
| School type | Public Provincial 1AB |
| School district | Jaffna Education Zone |
| Authority | Northern Provincial Council |
| School number | 1001003 |
| Teaching staff | 64 |
| Grades | 1-13 |
| Gender | Girls |
| Age range | 5-18 |
| Language | Tamil, English |
| School roll | 1,657 |
Holy Family Convent is a girls public provincial school in Jaffna, Sri Lanka.[1] The school was established in 1845. It consists of both a Tamil and English convent.
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The school was first managed by an Irish lady called Mrs. Flannagan with the aim of providing English education to the girls in Jaffna. In 1862 the school was taken over by the sisters of the Holy Family and became the first convent school on the island.
A nunnery exists behind the convent. St. Henry's college is also in Ilavalai, Jaffna and is the Roman Catholic school for Tamil boys.
The Jaffna convent faced repeated attacks during the Sri Lankan civil war. On Good Friday, 1987, the school was severely damaged in a bombing air raid by the Sri Lankan Air Force. A Jesuit Fr Iruthayam Bernard told the Catholic Herald in 1987 that Sri Lankan forces repeatedly hit hospitals, convents and refugee centres "using attacks in the south as an excuse" to bomb civilians in northern Sri Lanka. The Jaffna Teaching Hospital had been hit nine times.
The school was repaired following local donations and appeals by nuns in Jaffna.
The artist M.I.A. attended the school while she lived in Jaffna.