St Benedict’s Ampitiya 10-years-old
View(s):St Benedict’s Ampitiya, established on February 10, 2007, by Benedictine monks, off Kandy, marked its 10th anniversary recently.
According to its Rector, Rev Fr Clement Gnanaparagasa OSB., the school started with just 5 staff members and 60 students. He said, some thought the school would close down in a few weeks or, in a year, but the school withstood the test of time for 10 years.
Bishop of Kandy- Rt Rev Dr Vianney Fernando, Chief Guest at the Prize-Giving, being received by the students
With the blessings of the Bishop of Kandy Rt. Rev Dr Vianney Fernando, the school first started at Mayron Hill, Weerakoon Gardens, Katugastota, in the vacant Hostel buildings of St. Anthony’s College, and shifted to the present location at Galtenna on the Ampitiya-Hantanne Road on September 8, 2011. Now the School has a ground.
According to the Rector, the school is built with open doors, so that anyone, whatever his religion or ethnicity, would be welcome with open arms.
The school is built on wasteland belonging to the Benedictine monks. It was a hilly land and though, not much could be done with it, the resourceful monks started cutting the land and building a “open ‘ school for all.
There was a landmark visit to the school by the Abbot General of the Benedictine monks, Fr Mickael Kelly, in the beginning of the year, when he said that Sri Lanka has various traditions represented in the school, and students come to know and understand one another’s traditions. Fr Kelly further said that, “Living together with the community seeks to foster the qualities needed to achieve these ends.”
The 1st batch of students will sit for the GCE Ordinary Level this year. The school organised a “Walk” in Kandy to celebrate its 10th anniversary, and also the Prize-Giving with Bishop of Kandy- Very Rev Fr Dr Vianney Fernando as Chief Guest. - L.B. Senaratne