Prior to 1900, the playground land of St. James Church was donated by the Jaffna Roman Catholic diocese to construct a primary school.
In 1968 the United National Party, in line with their reconstruction planning, lowered the highest grade to seven and ordered that the older children were moved to the nearby Muslim school.
When the parents and students of the school complained due to this, Pesalai-born Silvester Antony Thuram was appointed as the principal.
In 1970 a temporary injunction granted by the Ministry of Education of the ruling United National Party upgraded the school to tenth grade.
The school has accepted both Catholic and non-Catholic students.