STUDY OF the history of the Wolmer’s Trust School since its founding in 1729, and the integral role of this institution in Jamaican’s cultural and educational development, is to be included in the school’s curriculum through a book written by alumi.

The book, In the Light of the Sun – the story of Wolmer’s Girls’ School, is described as “weaving a fascinating story of the Wolmer’s Girls’ division in the context of Kingston’s evolution as a capital city, the struggles of its people from the products of a slave society to participants in 21st-century technology, and the development of education to meet the demands of Jamaica as an emerging nation".

Five collaborating authors

The book was written by five collaborating authors: Marguerite Curtin, Penelope Budhlall, Karen Findlay, Professor Marlene Hamilton and Sonia Mills, all alumni of the Wolmer’s Girls’ School, to commemorate the 2009 centenary of the establishment of the Wolmer’s Old Girls’ Association."In the light of the sun - The story of Wolmer's Girls School

“We have a wonderful resource in the form of this book," said principal of Wolmer’s Girls’ School Colleen Montague.

“Our students at the grade-seven level entering this school will be guided towards a strong appreciation of the evolution of education in our country, especially the significant efforts of pioneering Wolmerian women to advance education for girls."

Five hundred copies of the publication were presented by the Wolmer’s Girls’ alumni to Montague at a function, which was also addressed by past Wolmer’s student, Custos of St Catherine, Sophia Azan, and Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites, whose mother and sister attended the school.

In commending the inclusion of the book in the curriculum, the education minister enjoined the gathering of students to cherish the “unparalleled opportunities presented to them at Wolmer’s", to recognise how much education had changed, allowing wide access and representing a unifying force. Founder of the school John Wolmer, and many unrecognised benefactors to education, Thwaites said, contributed to the realisation of potential and a lifting of the human spirit.

The book with its history, he concluded, also presented hope for “what is to come".