History 

Dr. (Mary) Lalhrilmoi Hrangchal
Batch of 1998

Introduction: The congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions was founded by Euphrasie Barbier on 25th December, 1861 in Lyons, France.It has already celebrated its 150 glorious years of existence. On 29th March 1883, Euphrasie Barbier and four other missionaries fi rst set up their mission in Chittagong. From there, they reached out to Myanmar, Vietnam, Australia, the UK, and Canada. The congregation took up the challenge of setting up convents and schools in the North-eastern states of India since 1915. Thus came about more than 10 schools and one college under the auspices of Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, among which St. Agnes’ Convent (Higher Secondary) School Haflong, has flourished a century this year.

The History: The earliest proposition for the construction of St. Agnes’ Convent School was made way back in 1911. On 25th September 1911, the Provincial Superior of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions wrote to the Prefect of Assam from Chittagong, requesting him for permission to open a convent in Haflong where Sisters, exhausted by work, old age and sickness could go to rest and recover their health. She offered to take up some work in Haflong to be able to cover, to some extent, the expenses for the maintenance of their house. The Prefect Apostolic readily gave his consent to this plan and proposed a good English elementary school, and in addition, a practical school to teach domestic science to the children of the employees of the Railways, and the Anglo-Indians. The then Governor of Assam and the Directorate of Public Instruction did not favor a school in Haflong, having no means to build and maintain it. Father Becker, the Prefect Apostolic therefore, appealed to the Assam-Bengal Railway authorities who were planning a school in Badarpur. They agreed to his proposal of a school in Haflong and postponed that of Badarpur. The Governor and Director of Public Instruction offered a building grant of Rupees. 30,000/. A large plot of land was bought for this purpose. At the same time, Father Becker succeeded in persuading the government of the province of Assam and the authorities of the Assam-Bengal railway to take an interest in this undertaking.1 The Holy See granted permission on 9th October, 1912 to open the new institution while the Government was ready to contribute two-thirds of the expenses for the construction. Besides, both the government and the railway administration were ready to grant a monthly stipend to the poorer children, taking into consideration the income of their parents. Thus the undertaking was put on a sound financial basis. Railway engineers drew up the plan, chalked out an estimate and drew up the contract.

Orders for necessary building materials were placed but the iron materials took a long time in arriving due to the outbreak of World War-I which jeopardised progress. Construction began in the winter of 1914 and by the end of December 1917; the school was ready to receive the community of sisters and pupils. The earliest inhabitants in the beginning of 1919 numbering twenty formed the nucleus of the school, six registered pupils and the rest made up the community. Greater number could not be expected as the institution was at its infant stage and parents who had waited too long had sent off their children to other places.

Normal space in the convent was evident for a few weeks. Then Malaria attacked all the inmates and anxious parents withdrew their wards. The end of World War-I on 11th November 1918 brought fresh hope for the convent. The Governor of Assam visited Hafl ong the Sunday after the war and attended the Thanksgiving Mass off ered at the Convent Chapel. He advised that the surrounding hills be cleared and water courses made into stone drains and the marshy valley at the foot of the hill be made into a lake. A few weeks later, he sent the Sanitary Commissioner and the DPI. They inspected the hillock, gave instructions for the needful and made the property liveable again. To show their respect and gratitude to the Governor, the Sisters named the lake after him and called it “Bell Lake.” 2 Pioneer nuns that came to Hafl ong at the beginning of the boarding school were Sr. M. St. Killian, Sr. M. St. Elzear, Sr. M. St. Berchmans, Sr. M. St. Augustine, Sr. M. St. Bertille, Sr. M. St. Elizabeth, Sr. M. St. Bonaventure, Sr. M. St. Irene, Sr. M. St. Corona, Sr. M. St. Bernard who passed away and buried in the convent cemetery. The Headmistresses of the school from 1918 were Mother Mary of Jesus, Mother Mary St. Ambrose, Mother Mary St. Rudolf, Mother Mary of Providence, Mother Mary St. Desmond, Mother Mary St. Deelan, Sister Mary St. Alphonse Ligori, Sister Mary St. Alphonsus Burns, Sr. Mary St. Henrietta, Sister. Mary Columba. The last foreign sister in the school was Mother Terence. All of them had left by 1969. It was then, time for the foreign officers to leave as well. With their parents gone, students could not remain. Sr. Provincial thus announced the closure of the school. But those giving HSLC exam remained till September 1970. The administration was then taken up by Indian sisters among whom Sr. Elsie Anthony became the First Indian Headmistress on 10th February 1970. At the time, there were 22 semi foreign girls and 12 foreign boys. Altogether, there were 150 students of whom were Bengali, Nepali, and some Mizo girls whose parents were working with the foreign officers. With their parents transferred or leaving, these students too left the convent and a new chapter began in the school’s history. 

For two years after this, there were no students to teach. Sr. Elsie roamed villages such as Mahur, Asalu, Maibang, Pangmol, Hange, Gunjung, Tumjang, Bethel etc., collecting students for the school. By the beginning of 1973, she was able to bring about 400 students but with no proper teachers. Sister Elsie thus brought Miss. Roma Bonner in 1972, then Mary Miller in 1974, Miss. Binodini in 1977, Miss. Devashree in 1981, Miss. Dhaneshwari in 1983, Miss. Monica Chetri in 1983, Madam Salomi Kiro in 1983,3 who are till faithfully serving the school.  Sr. Elsie remained the Headmistress of the school for 17 long years from 1970-1987. She was replaced by Sr. Mary Sebastian from 1987-1998, Sr. Justina Dohling from 1998-2000, Sr. Sunita Abraham from 2000-2005, Sr. Nirmala Abraham 2005-2010, Sr. Shraddha Carlo from 2011-2015, Sr. Alphonsa Varghese from 2015 to the present.

In 1973, Indira Gandhi wanted to nationalise all the schools in India. For this, Mr. Punnoose, a Malayalee officer of District Council, brought a patwari to measure the school’s land and draw its boundary. Since the foreign sisters had already given the Roman Field for the town’s sports complex, the present boundary was measured. Initially, Sr. Elsie faced a lot of problems. To begin with, the school had no offi ce and Nursery classroom. The Igloo served as the Offi ce, Nursery and Staff room. Seeing this diffi culty in the upcoming school, parents’ sympathy was aroused. Many local people came forward to help in the construction of new buildings for the school. Notable names among those were Mr. N. L. Daulagupu, Mr. J. K. Thaosen, Mr. Jahari, Commandant of SSB, Mr. S. K. Sinha and other parents. All these helped to build the present Nursery room, Class-VIII, IX and X. Parents also helped in changing the Boy’s bathroom into the present Offi ce room, and staff quarters where Class-XI and XII building stands now. As the students increased, classrooms became packed. By then, the school had around 800 students in all and still increasing as, at that time, there were only three schools in Hafl ong viz., St. Agnes’, Synod School and Boys’ High School. There was no fund for erecting new buildings. But Bishop Denzil D’ Souza of Silchar Holy Cross gave Sr. Elsie an amount of Rupees 33,000/ to set up another building. This was where the old Don Bosco High School and present Holy Spirit Hospital stands. 200 boys from Class-II to IV were sent down there  with all the important offi ce records. It was named “St. Agnes’ Extension.” But one terrible incident occurred in 1968 in which this boys’ building caught fire. Alarms were raised and all ran out with the exception of one who was deep in sleep. He perished in the flames of fire. Suresh Sharma was buried in the Convent cemetery. This fire destroyed many other important things in the bungalow such as the records of the school resulting in the scant historical records of the same.

World War-II and St. Agnes’ Convent School: The peaceful life at the Convent was disturbed once again by World War-II. Haflong became an intended target for the Japanese who set up camps 20 miles away from the town. Students were evacuated to Shillong and given places in St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s Convents. The convent here was made a refuge for novices, postulants and pupils of Chittagong where the military occupied the convents there. Students who remained here watched the novices and witnessed religious ceremonies of clothing in the holy habit and the profession, the first and final vow-taking ceremonies and other religious acts. They were so influenced spiritually that two girls of St. Agnes’ became nuns. Meanwhile, tribal communities strove to attain local self-government or independence for which political movements in Assam disturbed especially the northeast region. But gradually, tribal students slowly came to seek admissions and by 1955, 69 pupils were enlisted again. India’s independence in 1947 changed many things among which were introduction of Hindi as a compulsory subject. However, the first examination result after the introduction of Hindi was quite gratifying where 12 students acquired first class out of 13.

Early Education system: The pioneer sisters vowed to live and spread the ideal of their mother foundress which was the “spread of education” to women and girls. From the beginning therefore, the pupils of St. Agnes’ Convent engaged in a well- rounded education. Besides the academic course, music, needle work and sports were compulsory subjects. An examiner for Music came from Trinity College London every year and conducted Music Exam. A senior passed her Associate Examination A.T.C.L and qualifi ed for a music teacher in 1928. Girls who appeared for Needlework exam in 1828 passed with honors. In 1928, commercial classes began with a secular teacher Miss. Barrett. In 1943, HSLC examination produced five first class students from a total of six. The school was made a center for HSLC examination in 1929. It was accredited a full- fledged high school in 1934. St. Agnes’ was raised to the collegiate level in 1935 through the favor of the Inspector of Schools. Later, the school opted for its earlier high school status only for girls which continued till 2012. In 2013, the school was raised again to the Higher Secondary status offering education to both girls and boys.

Contribution to Education: St. Agnes’ Higher Secondary School brings together children of all tribes and non-tribes of Dima Hasao district under its educational platform, irrespective of caste and religion. The school has produced many successful citizens of the country who hold important offices in the country and state’s highest administrative departments. Engineers, professors, doctors, technicians, advocates, have also been produced by the school. Besides, many successful students holding respectable and enviable posts abroad are doing very well today. The school has indeed contributed a lot of manpower in the international, national, state and district at large.