Queen Salote College marks historic 100 years of educating Tongan women

For 100 years, Queen Sālote College has helped shape the lives of Tongan women and this week, the nation is celebrating that legacy.

Students, alumni, and families have gathered in Nukuʻalofa to mark the centenary of Tonga’s only all-girls secondary school, reflecting on a century of learning, leadership, and sisterhood.

The milestone has also been recognised across the country. The Tongan government declared Thursday, 12 March 2026, a one-off public holiday so people could join in commemorating the school’s 100th year.

Named after Queen Sālote Tupou III, one of Tonga’s most respected monarchs and a strong champion of education and culture, the college has long been a place where young women are encouraged to lead and serve their communities.

Over the decades, its students have gone on to play key roles across Tonga and the wider Pacific: in government, churches, schools, and community organisations.

As part of the celebrations, alumni have been sharing memories of their time at the school, recalling friendships, traditions, and the values they carried with them into adult life.

Current Queen Salote College students perform a ma'ulu'ulu during the centenary celebrations. Photo/Supplied/Manoa Media

Silvia Purdie, a former student, now a Presbyterian minister living in Upper Hutt, attended the college briefly in 1979 when her father was teaching in Tonga as a Methodist mission teacher.

Writing on Facebook, Purdie, then known as Silvia Crane, shared a light-hearted memory about preparing her school uniform.

“My poor mother didn’t own an iron, so she boiled my uniform with starch on Saturday and laid it under the kitchen mat,” she wrote. “By Monday morning, it was stiff as a board and stood up by itself.”

Silvia Purdie (second from left) pictured with Queen Salote College students and sister Natalie Crane. Photo/Supplied/Silvia Purdie

While she stood out as a foreign student, Purdie says she remembers being warmly welcomed. “I remember the dignity and pride in being girls and the strong women role models of the teachers.”

School life was also filled with music, dance, and celebration. “I made lots of money dancing at school functions, covered in coconut oil, flowers and cash, although it was probably mainly sympathy donations,” she joked.

'Ahoika Misa, the school’s current head prefect, said the centenary year carries special meaning.

She told PMN Tonga’s John Pulu that she is the third generation on her mother’s side to attend the school, continuing a family connection that stretches back decades.

Misa said meeting with older alumni during the celebrations has been one of the most powerful moments of the centenary.

Watch 'Ahoika Misa's full interview below.

Some former students sharing their memories are now in their late 90s, with the oldest nearing 100.

Their stories, she said, show how deeply the college has shaped the lives of women across Tonga.

A century after its founding, Queen Salote College remains a symbol of pride, opportunity, and sisterhood, with its legacy carried by the generations of Tongan women who have walked through its gates.