Gateway College writes a new chapter in their success story
View(s):Gateway initially began operations with the secondary school and then further developed to include the primary school section as well. The school had a humble beginning with just thirty-three students and seven teachers enrolled at their school in a converted house in Borella. However, over the years the school has now grown to include four campuses, namely in Kandy, Negombo, and Bambalapitiya with the main campus moving in 2006 to a 4-acre expanse in Rajagiriya. The Rajagirya campus is currently home to 1700 students, and 1100 in Kandy, over 600 in Negombo and 250 students in Bambalapitiya, which is currently a primary school.
Gateway was founded by renowned Sri-Lankan educationist, Mr. R.I.T. Alles. Mr. Alles has been the founder principal of
Dr. Harsha Alles, Deputy Chairman, Gateway
D.S.Senanayake College and has also served as the State Secretary of Education, overlooking schools island-wide. Gateway is now headed, by his son, Dr. Harsha Alles. “Care is taken to ensure that the same standard is maintained at all four Gateway Colleges” said Dr.Harsha Alles, Director of Gateway.
Driven by several factors, one being the increased demand for admission at Gateway College, the management decided the time and conditions were right to expand their reach. Thus Gateway College, now in its sixteenth year, has taken over two international schools that will soon write the next chapters in the Gateway College book of success. One school is located in Colombo, while the other is located in Kandy. “We are well established with our schools in Colombo, Kandy and Negombo and we noticed a significant demand for admissions in the last 2 to 3 years, we were further encouraged by the good performance of the schools and decided it was time to give more students the opportunity to be a part of the Gateway family” said Dr. Alles regarding the expansion. The two new schools will offer classes from play group right up to advanced level. Dr. Alles further added “we had two possible approaches to increase the numbers within our schools, one was to increase the number of students in our current schools and the other was to expand the school network. We chose the latter, because we firmly believe in manageable class sizes as well as school size – that is 25 students per class and a school population that does not exceed 2000”. Dr.Alles further added “As we are in our sixteenth year of operations, now we see the success and talents of students who have been a part of Gateway from pre-grade. It is pleasing for us to see that every year our results keep improving and in the last three years we have seen consistently good results. Our school facilities and resources were high investments but it is now paying off and we witness the rewards through the success of our students” said Dr. Alles.
The vast achievements of Gateway and its students speak for themselves in conveying the message of the success of Gateway. Dr.Alles, had this to say about the success of Gateway; “we believe that we are successful due to a blend of systems that has resulted in an international school in a Sri-Lankan environment. We strongly believe in Sri-Lankan values, culture and religion. From day one we have had a multicultural environment in our school, where the staff all works as one family and there are no barriers.
This is a good example of how different people can work together”. Speaking on the preservation of local culture and discipline within the schools Dr.Alles said “While maintaining our local values, we do believe in achieving the highest levels of education as per international standards. Our students learn the local languages as well as Sri Lankan history from primary school, students have the option of taking Sinhala or French for their ordinary levels, and learn British history from Grade 8 onwards. We strongly believe in good discipline, which we implement it through a method we have inherited from our founder Mr. R.I.T. Alles, that is the principles of the three Fs – Firm, Fair and Friendly. This ensures that students are not restricted in a regimental manner and they have the necessary freedom to enhance creativity and a healthy sense of independence”. Students at Gateway college have the option of participating in a variety of activities such as sports, drama, debating etc “thus ensures that we develop well-rounded students, which is what leading universities seek – students with good grades and the ability to participate and work together in a team” added Dr. Alles.
It is important to keep up with global educational trends and provide the right tools of education to the teachers, the students’ first point of contact. Teachers gain a significant exposure through the teacher training programmes conducted both locally and internationally. “In Sri-Lanka, we are the youngest international school in comparison to other established international schools, but we have always looked at what is happening around the world in terms of educational developments” said Dr. Alles.As a school Gateway “has always tried to cater to middle and upper-middle class. Even our fee structure is medium in comparison to other international schools. We offer money’s worth because we offer good facilities for the fees that we charge, we are truly proud to be able to do this” said Dr. Alles. Speaking of the success of Gateway in terms of its expansion and success through the last fifteen years, Dr, Alles said “Right from day one we reinvested in the education.” Dr. Alles attributes this as the reason that Gateway has been successful in having ownership of the land and buildings housing all the schools.“As a family we have always had a passion for education, some people look at education as a good business, but I do not think this is the right approach. Those who have looked at it that way have not really succeeded” said Dr.Alles, defining the distinguishing factor of Gateway.
Speaking about the venture of Gateway in to the tertiary education sector, Dr.Alles said “We entered the higher education sector because we were sure of our strengths in primary and secondary education. Students, who follow the foundation programme at Gateway Graduate School, follow the same discipline as the school students by attending classes in school uniform and following the same school rules. This is important as we believe all students up to the age of 18 should be in a school environment to develop their personality and leadership skills and thus stay away from bad influences”.
Gateway College works very closely with several international and national schools to encourage a spirit of cooperation and unity. Dr. Alles is also the chairman of TISSL (The International Schools of Sri Lanka), an association that aims to enhance and promote goodwill and relationships between member schools and also contribute towards the development of international schools education in Sri Lanka. “Currently we have 23 members schools in TISSL, with many schools requesting to join the group but we want to work together with the national schools as well hence we will be hosting an international conference in November for the heads of national and international schools, that will enable us to build a solid and friendly network of educationists” said Dr. Alles.
In a message to parents and students Dr. Alles said “School is the best time of your life, so students enjoy it to the maximum. Explore and experience your skills and talents in a disciplined environment and make the most of this time. Parents, let your children enjoy their school life, do not push them for tuition classes all the time – let children explore and identify their skills and creativity”.
We wish Gateway Colleges and its students all the best to continue their story of excellence along with the new members of the Gateway family.
(JTK)