A century of wisdom

Sri Sumangala Girls' School Panadura, recently celebrated its 75th anniversary.

Buddhist females in this country were fortunate to have philanthropists who realized the value of educating them more than 75 years ago when European women were still considered menials for their husbands. Mrs. Jeremias Dias, Mrs. Domingo Dias and Mrs. P.C.H. Dias were amongst the pioneers in the field of female Buddhist education in Sri Lanka..Samuel Baker in his "Eight years in Ceylon" (1891) says. "A large proportion of our own population in Great Britain can neither read nor write", while expressing the need for educating the 'natives,' Enlightened Sri Lankan philanthropists were opening schools at this time not only for boys but for girls too !

Consequent to the famous debate at Panadura - 'The Panadura Wadaya' - in 1875 between the orator monk Rev Migettuwewatte Gunananda and the Christian missionaries, Col. H.S. Olcott arrived in the Island

Following his visit there was a re-awakening among the Buddhists. He formed the Buddhist Theosophical Society and was able to get the support of the wealthy Sinhala Buddhists to start Buddhist schools in the country.

The first Buddhist school in the country - Upadya Vidyalaya in Panadura , was founded by Jeremias Dias in 1875 followed by many other schools by him later. Following his death his wife established Visakha Vidyalaya in Colombo and a few years later Sri Sumangala Girls' School, Panadura.

Panadura was fortunate to have had many benefactors at the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Jeremias Dias and his wife, Domingo Dias, Mrs.P.C.H.Dias,Mathies Salgado,Sri Chandrasekara,Arthur.V.Dias and his brother Charles .M.Dias,Richard and Walter Salgado,M.A.Perera,Wilmot Perera and Leo Fernando are some of them. The money they earned was given generously to Buddhist schools, not only in Panadura but all over the country. The Buddhist Theosophical Society invested these funds in many Buddhist schools. This paved the way for less fortunate rural folk to be educated , an issue to which the British so far turned a blind eye. 

Dedicated principals such as Mrs. Hilda Kularatne, wife of the famous Mr. P. de. S. Kularatne of Ananda College contributed to the progress of the school. She was followed by Mrs. Lucy Vinson from Kent, England. She was a familiar figure at the weddings of her pupils as well as their children. Not only she attended weddings but at times did match making as well! She was an active lady with high spirits who did a lot to improve the school. She started the science class for University Entrance and set up a small laboratory.

The first doctor from Sri Sumangala was Malinga Fernando who became the Secretary to the Ministry of Health. He was followed by H.D. Dhanapala and Swarna de Mel (now Mrs. Indraratna). I too studied in the H.S.C. in the girls' school but in my final term joined Ananda College Colombo from where I gained my admission to University. Mrs. Malani Ranasinghe (nee Wijesekera) the third Principal of the school held the post for more than 30 years. She was among the first batch of girls to enter the University of Ceylon and graduate in the early 1950s.

During her time the school blossomed with several new class rooms coming up. As a Member of Parliament in 1977, one of my first tasks was to acquire "Swarnagiri" and five acres of land for the school. Today Sri Sumangala Girls' School has one of the largest land areas.

Chas M. Dias, son of Mr. & Mrs. Jeremias Dias considered the school being placed in his trust by his mother. He carried out his tasks efficiently and was a daily visitor to the school He even accompanied the girls when they went on trips . He generously spent his money to obtain the service of good teachers for the school.

Sir Susantha de Fonseka was another manager who took classes in the H.S.C. Form.

Mr. Dias recruited teachers from India to teach science. Mrs. Chacko and Mrs. Rebecca Ipe from Kerala come to my mind. Mr. P.V. Rajan for Zoology and Mr. H.D. Perera from the Pembroke Academy for Chemistry. Mr. Shelton Abeysuriya who is now the senior partner of De Silva and Mendis who taught Chemistry and coached the boys in cricket. were teachers of excellence

With the ceiling on land in 1972 benefactors of Panadura who were landowners lost their lands and much of their income. Today, the principals of schools have to stoop down to a level of running behind politicians to obtain funds from the decentralised budget to maintain schools. It is sad to note how the local education system has become too politically oriented. I bow my head to my parents ,teachers who gave an education of quality and benefactors of education in Panadura for making me what I am today. 

May my alma mater continue to flourish in the field of education in the next millennium too.

-Dr. Neville Fernando

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