Rahula College, Matara celebrates a proud milestone May 1, – its 102nd anniversary
View(s):It was in 1923, when British colonialism was at its peak and the English language was dominating the national fabric of Ceylon in every respect, not only in the public service and the private sector, but also in the homes of a wide Ceylonese community in preference to the indigenous cultures and oriental practices.
In the Southern Province, beyond Galle, hardly could the upcoming generation progress without a properly streamlined English education, as was enjoyed by the more fortunate children in and around many other cities of the country.
Bridging the gap
F. Gordon Pearce who was the Principal of Mahinda College, Galle — one of Ceylon’s best known educational institutions of the day undertook to bridge this gap in terms of English education, between children in Matara and those in Galle.
He spoke to a group of philanthropists from Ruhuna to start a school in Matara with the prime objective of teaching English. Organising themselves as the Matara Buddhist Education Society (MBES), with the popular notary public D. T. W. Rajapaksha as Secretary, they founded the Parakramabahu School in a small building rented out on Main Street, Matara.
Great generosity
Pearce very generously offered to release one of his most committed and dedicated senior teachers Williams de Silva to be the principal of the new school. Williams de Silva earned the respect of all southerners for the sacrifice he made and the risk he took, by giving up his well-established position in Mahinda College to pioneer a small, unregistered school in Matara.
A well-known businessman and industrialist of Matara, C. A. Odiris de Silva and his family with great generosity offered their valuable property called Siriwardena Watte where the famous Saram Walawwa was located, to shift the Parakramabahu School to a more spacious premises. With the shift in location, there was also the shift in the name; Parakramabahu School becoming Rahula Vidyalaya.
With these developments, Rahula was attracting more and more children, but it somehow remained unregistered with the Education Department. Instead of recognising the need for the new school, the Department threatened the parents that they would be taken to courts for sending their children to an unregistered school. The leadership of the MBES, highly perturbed, appealed to the then Legislative Council member Forrester Obeysekara for assistance.
Gordon Pearce, who was then resident in India, again came to the rescue and through the new director of education McRay, he was able to register Rahula Vidyalaya with the government as an Assisted School.
Many achievements
With the major hurdles thus cleared, there was no looking back for Rahula. Year after year, the school made major strides to the delight of its pioneers.
The achievements of Rahula and its students in the past 102 years have been numerous and multi-faceted. Students of Rahula have had considerable impact on a variety of areas ranging from fields such as engineering, medicine, law through to industries, business and trade, sports and politics.
Rahulites are active today in all places and in all fields, within Sri Lanka as well as overseas. The role of Rahula and the Rahulites was succinctly translated into a few words by the Principal, Gurudeva D. J. Kumarage who masterminded the renaissance of Rahula in 1937 and worked relentlessly for the glory of the school, as well as for the wellbeing of the students, until he retired in 1956.
He wrote “It may not be possible for every student to become a government official or a member of the learned profession, but it is possible for everyone to become an honest, disciplined and useful citizen, living at peace with himself, and his fellow human beings, and thereby fulfill the purpose of life”.
-Rakhitha Hemawardana (A student of Rahula from 1998 – 2011
Social Activist
Former Head Prefect 2010 / 11 )
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