SMK Convent Taiping

SMK Convent Taiping (Malay: Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Taiping) is an all girls secondary school. It was formerly known as the Taiping Convent School, and is currently located at Convent Lane, Kota, Taiping. The school is famed for being one of the pioneer schools in Malaysia in term of academic achievement.

History

Convent Taiping School was originally a Catholic girls school for students of all races regardless of religions, and proudly holds its austere motto of Simple in Virtue and Steadfast in Duty. The school was founded by Rev. Father Clement Charles Grenier from Penang, due to the request from the Catholic families who in need of a girls' school in Taiping. The idea of establishing the school was a brainchild of Rev. Father Clement Charles Grenier, when he visited the town in 1898.

On 23 February 1899, under the decree from His Grace, Monsignor Fee, Rev. Mother Anselm, Superior of the Convent in Penang, sent three nuns, namely, Sister Prudence, Sister Angela and Sister Cecile to Taiping and established the first convent school at Kelian Pauh, Taiping. By March of the same year 75 students had registered and beginnings were being made for Indian girls. When the then British Resident of Perak, Sir John Pickersgill Rodger, accompanied by the Inspector of Schools paid a visit to the school, and a significant change was made, where the school will be funded by the State Government.

On 28 July 1902, primary classes were installed in the spacious new classrooms at the Convent Kelian Pauh and in December 1902, four candidates from the school set out for Penang to sit for the preliminary examination the forerunner of the Junior Cambridge Certificate. In 1900, Mother Clothide became the first headmistress for an Indian girls school; known as St. Theresa Convent with 26 students. In 1912, the school had progressed steadily under the second principal, Rev. Mother St. John Baptist, therefore it was granted the status as 'First Class Grant' from the British Government to the school.

In 1931 the Kelian Pauh Convent was shifted to the town centre at Convent Lane, Kota and this institution was renamed to Convent Kota. The convent nuns conducted classes for the masses and an orphanage for the unwanted children. The present buildings for secondary school dated back to 1938, with expansion of building blocks and situated next to the St. Louis Church. In 1932, under the tenure of Mother Ethienna, ten students sat for the Junior Cambridge Examination and the number of students increased to 286 and with 12 teachers.

During the Second World War, the British administrators converted the school into a military hospital, when the British's troops surrendered to the Japanese government, the school was turned into the Gunsei Kanbu or the Japanese military headquarters. All nuns were under house detentions, while some were imprisoned or brutally killed. The school had survived without any damages during the war, and when the war ended with the British returned, the schooling activities soon restored to normal.

In 1951, the Convent Primary School under Mother Theophane, the number of students increased to 1034 with 39 teachers. During the 1950s, the number of enrollment had increased significantly, therefore the 'Notre Dame' or the new primary school building was built near the school compound where it could accommodate more than 1000 students in a time. In 1958, which is one year after the completion of the Convent Primary School, the then principal, Mother Vincent was replaced by Mother Louis and the school was separated into two units, the primary and secondary where both schools are administrated by different principals. Whereas there were 1320 students and 31 teachers in the primary school and 503 students and 21 teachers in the secondary school.

List of Principals

• 1900 - 1912 - Rev. Mother Clothlide (1st posting)
• 1912 - 1921 - Rev. Mother Saint John Baptist (1st posting)
• 1921 - 1932 - Rev. Mother Clothlide (2nd posting)
• 1932 - 1945 - Rev. Mother Elienna
• 1945 - 1951 - Rev. Mother Saint John Baptist (2nd posting)
• 1951 - 1953 - Rev. Mother Theophane
• 1953 - 1958 - Rev. Mother Louis
• 1958 - 1965 - Rev. Mother Vincent
• 1965 - 1972 - Rev. Mother Pius
• 1972 - 1976 - Rev. Mother Cyril
• 1976 - 1985 - Rev. Mother Theresia
• 1986 - 1991 - Mdm. Rahimah Binti Bahara
• 1991 - 1995 - Mdm. Normah Binti Mohamad
• 1995 - 2000 - Mdm. Aishah Binti Yeit
• 2000 - 2003 - Mdm. Hasnah Binti Hamid
• 2004 - 2006 - Ms. Helen Teoh Poh Gim
• 2006 – 2010 - Mdm. Hjh. Che Su Binti Hj. Mahamud
• 2010 - present - Mdm. Rahimah Binti Jamaludin

The Attacks

On 10 January 2010, it was reported by the Malaysian Insider that Molotov cocktails were found near the school compounds. Fortunately, the home-made bombs did not explode. It was believed that the incidents happened due to the radical Muslim protesters against the use of the term 'Allah' by the Catholic runs weekly magazine, in which the use of the term is allowed by the High Court of Malaya.

External links

• Failed Attack At Taiping Convent School
• SMK Convent Taiping
• SRK Convent Kota
• Taiping Catholic Church

References

• Eugene Khoo, 2007 A History of Taiping, Malaysia
• Khoo Kay Kim, 2003, The Development of Taiping From 1876 Until World War II: Taiping The Vibrant Years, ISBN 983-2759-01-3
• E. C. Hicks, 1958, History of English Schools in Perak (page 25)