St Anne’s College Kurunegala celebrates 150-years
View(s):Celebrating their 150 year anniversary, the past and the present pupils of St Anne’s College Kurunegala are coming together to celebrate their jubilee with a year long event calendar.
Kicking off the programme, St. Anne’s College along with the assistance of the Old Boys’ Association initiated celebrations in July and will continue celebrations till December 2018. Celebrations initiated with the inaugural function of a thanksgiving mass at St. Anne’s Cathedral along with Buddhist and Islamic religious observances earlier this year.
The event calendar also completed the Annite Jubilee parade – with the presentation of the150th anniversary Jubilee stamp , the Jubilee Scout Camporee at the college premises to name a few.
The celebrations for this year concluded with a requiem holy mass and will commence again in January 2018 with Prefect’s day.
In the 19th century, the Catholic Church in Kurunegala built a school with the purpose of nurturing a dedicated and disciplined society. Thus, in 1861 when the St. Anne’s Church was built the church founded an English Medium school in 1864 in the church verandah for boys and girls. In 1967 the school registered under the government with a total of 101 students. Until 1894, it was recorded that St. Anne’s was the only English Medium School in Kurunegala.
At present the school has an enrollment of 2,800 students.
Over the years the school’s principal, Rev. Brother Ernest Tarcisius has worked alongside parents, staff and the Old Boys Association, to give the young Annites a holistic education experience that will enable them to be productive members of society. This foresight is on par with the school’s vision statement of the institution being built on the Lasallian spirit, inspired with Human, Social and Gospel values of being “dedicated to educate wholesame citizens for Sri Lanka”
For a period of a year from July 2017 to December 2018, St. Anne’s College and the Old Boys Association will be hosting a myriad of events that will personify the culture found at the school. As the past and the present students celebrate their sesquicentennial jubilee celebration together, the school hopes to continue to inspire youth who will one day take their place in society.