Theresa’s BMV stepping stone to a bright future
View(s):By Sujitha Miranda
College Environment
St. Theresa Balika Maha Vidyalaya which is identified as the only girls’ school established in Elpitiya Zone, boasts of a proud history. Apart from an excellent record in academics since its inception, it also provides a clean and natural environment for all of its students.
The school was initially established as St. Theresa’s English School in 1924 with a few Catholic students. The founder members were the catholic nuns and Rev. Father Van Austen SJ. The land was donated to the sisters by Charles Northway.
The first building put up by the sisters was the Infant Jesus Hall. The first principal was Rev. Sis. Mary Aloysius. As the number of students grew the two storey building with the main hall
The present principal of the school Mrs.H.T.Disani De Alwis Abeysiriwardana
was put up with hostel facilities in 1928.
Since it was the only girls’ school that offered education in the English Medium in the area, and it was a prestigious school, many students enrolled from different parts of the country. It was Rev. Fr. Van Austen who worked hard and made many sacrifices to collect funds to put up the many buildings of the school.
Then the school was taken over by the government in 1963. From that point the school was led by lay principals. Advanced Level classes were started in 1963. The school was named St. Theresa Balika Maha Vidyalaya thereafter.
As a school which houses Grades 6 to 13, the student population is over 2000 and the academic staff exceeds 44. Their courage and dedication have been helpful to develop the school to a top level. The present principal of the school is H.T. Disani De Alwis Abeysiriwardana is assisted by two deputy principals K.H. Nandawathy and Rev. Sis. G.A.N.G. Fernando.
The school is doing very well in academics through the efforts of a dedicated group of teachers. Its results at the public exams indicate that the school’s academic standards have been rising over the years. Annually 75% of the G.C.E.(O/L) students qualify to follow their
Board of Prefects
Advanced Levels.
Theresa BMV offers Arts and Commerce for the Advanced Level and each year the school improves its G.C.E. (A/L) results. Furthermore, the number of its university entrants also increases yearly.
Theresa BMV provides facilities for nearly all sports including Athletics, Netball, Volleyball and Karate. The netball and volleyball teams frequently win top spots at various provincial competitions. Their two karate kids, Chathuri Kaushalya and Supuni Prarthana, both came in second at the All Island Karate Competition in their
One of the Classrooms
respective age groups.
Several organizations have been formed and are conducting very useful programmes for the benefit of the school. Students associations, Literary Associations, The Buddhist Society, The Environmental Committee, The Home Science Society, The ICT Association function smoothly at Theresa BMV. The Environment Corp, the St. Johns Ambulance, the Girl Scouts, the Traffic Unit and the students’ parliament are very active in the school. They take part in annual Divisional, Zonal and Provincial level competitions.
The college dancing troupe emerged third All-Island while K.A. Ridmi Imasha was
Students During the Netball Practice
placed second individually. The music group was placed first in the zone this year 2012 and the drama troupe won the merit award at the All Island competition.
With a mission to “form knowledgeable, attitudinal and skillful Theresians who are virtuous and confident to serve all with self-dignity and trust within the cultural norms and expectations” the Theresian girls march forward to face the challenges of an ever-changing world.
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus