Twenty years and still going strong
View(s):Walking through the broad entryway of Lyceum International School’s parent branch in Nugegoda, to witness its 20th anniversary
(Right) Mrs. Kumari Grero with Mohan Lal Grero. Pix by Amila Gamage
celebrations, was somewhat of a surreal experience for me. I had made that walk several times before, beginning all the way back in 1995. Sometimes I had trudged reluctantly, wearily anticipating a day of impossible assignments and tedious classwork but on most occasions it was an eager stroll, fuelled by the promise of camaraderie and the hope of excitement.
I felt neither of these emotions on this day. They were replaced instead by a powerful flood of nostalgia and pride; nostalgia from 11 years of happy memories and pride for being part of the rise of what is today one of the country’s premier schools.
Indeed 20 years is a long time for anything, especially for a school which started as humbly as Lyceum. Founded by Mohan Lal Grero on June 14th, 1993 in a building of modest size and facilities down Raymond Road, Nugegoda, Lyceum initially housed merely seven students and five teachers.
Mohan Lal Grero speaks to a student
Over the years, it grew steadily, generating a student population which eventually shot well over 1000. Furthermore, Lyceum also went on to spread its wings across the island, opening 10 branches in Wattala, Gampaha, Ratnapura, Panadura, Kohuwala, Kandana, Yakkala, Nuwara Eliya and Anuradhapura.
I, like so many of the students who joined the school during its early years, remained at Lyceum until the very end of my school life. This guaranteed me a front row seat to all of this rapid and significant change and ingrained in me a deep sense of loyalty and belonging, which I have not felt anywhere since.
I watched in amazement as the bare, one storey building which housed our classrooms gradually gained new floors until eventually it transformed into a majestically imposing structure.
Chemistry, Biology and Physics practical classes that were initially confined to cramped rooms housing only a handful of Bunsen
Veteran teacher, Bandula Galappathi receives an award for his service to the school.
Burners, litmus papers and test tubes acquired more luxurious accommodation in spacious labs furnished with the latest lab equipment.
Our canteen, a small room with an even smaller window, which served as a makeshift counter, now resembles a modest diner, with tables, chairs and foods far more varying and titillating than a roll and fish bun.
We also made significant strides on the sporting field of battle. It began in cricket, after our coach at the time, Nelson Mendis, groomed a tough bunch of cricketers (names fail me now but from those I remember: the Madurapperuma brothers, Mahesh and Migara, Mark Wille, Kamalesh, Thalal, Vasanth Yathavaraj, Jeewaka Jayasuriya, Sabri, Sriyan Miftas, Karl Lawrence) who went on to rack up rows of titles.
During basketball matches, I remember plenty of occasions when I used to look on despondently as other schools massacred us by massive margins of victory, games that would literally end the moment our players donned their jerseys. The same can be said of our football team. But once again, a crop of outstanding players (in basketball, the Wille brothers, Mark and Dishan, the Senanayake brothers, Manjula and Rumesh, Gayan Rajapakse, Migara Madurapperuma, Gishan Manage and Dilip Stephens while in football David Jeyakumar, Naren Gunawardena, Ranesh Uzoka) lifted these two sports from the depths of defeat to a dominant summit where titles were garnered on a regular basis. Special mention must also be made of our first and extremely knowledgeable and kind-hearted swimming coach, the late Rizvi Zain, who laid the early bricks for Lyceum swimming’s later success.
However, Lyceum made its most notable progress thanks to a long line of dedicated and talented teachers. Men and women who commanded respect rather than demanded it, who taught during those early days without any regard to financial benefits but were spurred on through the reward of watching their young charges succeed in life. This list is too far-reaching to single out individual names along with their contribution, a task which would require an entire article if not a book. Lyceum also owes a large portion of its success to an ambitious management, led by Mrs. Kumari Grero, who made it a point to put her students’ welfare above everything else. As one of the many students who gained a scholarship on sympathetic rather than academic grounds, I am forever grateful for the rich education I received at this great institution.
Yes, 20 years is a very long time. But knowing Lyceum, and its uncanny ability to keep fighting, surviving and growing, something tells me that I will be walking down that entryway for many years to come.
Former student
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