A /Yakawewa Vidayala in Medawachchiya Celebrates its Centenary
View(s):A /Yakawewa Vidayalaya situated in Yakawewa ,a beautiful village on the Mannar Road, in Medawachchiya celebrated its centenary on the 1st of July 2022 at a grand scale.
This school was the centre of education for those students coming from villages like Periyakulam, Thammannakulama, Katukeliyawa, Marada-maduwa, Siyambalagaskadawewa, Rabakulamba and Bellankadawala. Earlier, it had classes only upto grade 5, but later it was expanded upto grade 11.
According to the elders in the village,this school had been there in Rambakulamba even before 1922 and children from villages Kongaskadawewa ,Palugollawa and Pulleliya had come there for schooling.
When our country was under the British rule, in order to lay the railways, they removed the school and it was established down the bund of the Yakawewa Lake. Later with the villagers coming to settle close to the main road, the school too was again brought to where it is now. Here at the beginning, a store room workers on the road had used both as the school and the accommodation of teachers.
Mr. M.V.Dhanapala former principal of this school told the Suday Times ‘I was admitted to this school in 1950. Those days we cut small branches (twists) used for sweeping the school premises from the thick jungle around the school. Even the children from remote villages came to this school on the foot paths through the thick jungle. I too came to this school on a foot path through the jungle from Bellankadawala. Those days there were only 20 – 30 children in this school. We had classes only from grade one to eight. Only two teachers were there to teach. It was the principal and his wife. There was a Tamil teacher to teach Tamil students that came from Siyambalagaskadawewa, Perakulam and Rambakulamba.’
‘Not a single document maintained during that time when it was at Rambakulamba has been preserved due to lack of enough facilities. Accordinng to the other documents available, since 1922, teachers who have served here were from faraway places like Gampaha and Weyangoda.’
‘As a result of an announcement by the Government the attendance of the schoolchildren increased during the years from 1965- 70. As in 80’s number of students increased sharply, the need for more facilities was felt very much. Realising this, the security forces instructed by Captain Navaratne Bandara, constructed a building for the school while two other buildings were constructed by the Government.’
‘We are grateful to them for giving us a library and a teachers’ quarter- a long felt need of our school. Now a beautiful small shrine too has been built with the help of the villagers.’
Another forward step was the scouting movement which was started in 1984 at this school. A jak tree they planted in a tree campaign launched by them, in the school premises still bears fruits and villagers are happy enjoying its fruits throughout the year.
Kiribandarage Gunasekara the oldest person and village weda mahaththaya,in the village said, ‘ I was born in 1939. I joined this school in 1946. I can still remember those who were with me in grade one (balansaya). V Danapala,Kumari Ethana, Senneviratne, Karunnaratne are some of them. Gunaratne..he became a monk later. He is dead now.’
‘When we got our independence in 1948 our school too went to Station Medawachchiya to celebrate it. Our schoolchildren sang the National Anthem. We won the first place. We were given a big National flag as a present.’
The Centennial celebration was attended by former principals and teachers who were presented with souvenirs for the service they rendered and the long run event held for elders attracted every one.
If the village Yakawewa, being a Sinhala village on the border ,in the 80’ s,had not bravely defended our motherland against the blood sucking tiger terrorists, there would have been no one today to celebrate this centenary.
In that sense, its centennial celebrations highly mark it as a historical victorious chapter in the book of Sri Lanka.
- Richard Walter Perera
HitAd.lk is the best and biggest mobile phone market in Sri Lanka, and we guarantee you will find what you need here from our extensive listing of mobile phones for sale in Sri Lanka. Whether it’s a budget-priced smartphone for communication, or higher end features with advanced connectivity, there are many different options from which to choose from on our site!