Rahula College

Coordinates: 5°57′12″N 80°32′6″E / 5.95333°N 80.53500°E / 5.95333; 80.53500

Rahula College

අත්තානං දමයන්ති පණ්ඩිතා
(Pali for "Wise man controls himself")
Location
Matara
Sri Lanka
Information
Type All-Boys government school, started as private Buddhist
Established 1923
Grades 1–13
Number of students Over 7000
Color(s) Blue and Orange
        
Affiliation Matara Buddhists' Society (1923)
Website rahulacollege.org

Rahula College is a one of the most popular boys' schools in Sri Lanka, located in Matara district. Though it was originally a Buddhist school, now it is run by the Government of Sri Lanka as a National School. It was one of the first schools which was converted to a National School. Rahula College has two sections - the Primary section, which serves students from Grade 1 to Grade 5, and the Secondary section, which serves students from Grade 6 to Grade 13.

History

In 1921, Frederick Gordon Pearce (principal of Mahinda College, Galle), D.T.W. Rajapaksha Ralahami and Sir R.S.S. Gunawardana established the "Buddhists Society". On 1 May 1923, the Buddhists Society opened a school named Parakramabhahu Vidyalaya, in a rented building on Main Street, Matara. Parakramabhahu Vidyalaya's motto was "May I be a true Buddhist". Hewabowalage Yasapala was the first student. Parakramabhahu Vidyalaya was shifted to the "Saram Mudali Walawwa" which was donated by C. A. Odiris de Silva, with the new name of "Rahula College". C.A. Odiris de Silva's second son C.A. Ariyathilake, who also donated Matara's leading girls' school Sujatha Vidyalaya, donated this school to the government.

Rahula College currently has over 7,000 students.

Matara District

Principals

  Period Name
1st 1923 – 1932 Mr. G. William De Silva
2nd 1932 – 1936 Mr. C. Amirthalingam
3rd 1936 – 1937 Mr. J. R. Bhatt
4th 1937 – 1956 Mr. D. J. Kumarage
5th 1956 – 1973 Mr. B. P. Ariyawansa
6th 1973 – 1979 Mr. B. Suriarachchi
7th 1979 – 1983 Mr. A. H. Godavitharana
8th 1983 – 1986 Mr. P. Wijewardana
9th 1986 – 1987 Mr. Mahinda Jagoda
10th 1987 – 1989 Mr. N. Weerathunga
11th 1989 – 1990 Mr. A. M. Liyanage
12th 1990 – 1998 Mr. N. Ariyawansha
13th 1998 – 2002 Mr. Sarath Gunarathna
14th 2002 – 2010 Mr. Kithsiri Liyanagamage
15th 2010 – 2016 Mr. Nimal Dissanayake
16th 2016 – Mr. Francis Welage

College houses

College houses' names and colours:

Web team

Rahula College's official website was established in 2012 as a result of the Rahula Web Project along with the Rahula Web Team 2003. The project was conducted by Bogoda Wimalagnana Thero, Mr. Jayawardane, Mr. V.V.D. Dharmawardane.

Primary section

Rahula Primary is located in Welegoda. It was established in 1991, at the place where the Sudarshana Model School was. There are classes from grade 1 to grade 5.The former principal was Mr. Gamini Abeykon and the current principal of the primary section is Mrs. Thilakani Gunawardena.

Clubs and extracurricular activities

The Internet Operations Team of The College – Team|RCMweb operates the RahulaTV project, which broadcast the "Battle of Two Cities" match between 2011 Rahula College and St. Aloysius’ College as its inaugural webcast. RahulaTV has been function as a sub unit of the Team|RCMweb. RahulaTV is run in collaboration with Rahula College Media Unit presenters. Its web streaming service covers school events of community interest, live through the Internet.

Sports at the college include athletics, basketball, boxing, chess, cricket, rugby, soccer, swimming, volleyball, table tennis, badminton and karate.

Alumni

Old pupils of Rahula College Matara are called Rahulites.[1] Following is a list of some:

Sports matches

The annual Rahula - Thomas Football Encounter' or Battle of Golden Ensigns is a football Match played between Rahula College and St. Thomas' College, Matara. It was one of the First annual inter school football matches in Sri Lanka.

Starting from 2012 Rahula College and Dharmapala College play an annual match. The first match was held on Uyanwatta Stadium and Rahula College was the host.

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 17, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.