St. Xavier's Boys' College Mannar

good shepherd school in mannar owned its beginning to st. francis xavier who had sent his missionary priests to sri lanka to proclaim the faith. those missionaries who came to mannar around 1542, started the school to educate the children with faith in their vernacular language. later, when jaffna became one of the fist two dioceses of ceylon in 1845, catholic education was given extreme importance by the bishops. specially during the time of bishop bonjean omi, who was known as the champion of catholic education in sri lanka. many schools saw their inception. under the guidance of bishop bonjean omi, rev. fr. peter maria boutin omi, an exemplary french missionary and a model religious, came to mannar to give a sound english education, together with vernacular language started the school in 1870 and named as “good shepherd school”. the missionaries convinced that education was an essential factor in the development of the church in sri lanka, especially in a rising town like mannar,