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| Wednesday, 25 August 2004 |
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Hail Santa Maria! by Ratna Perera This is an article compiled and written by a 75-year-old past pupil of the college... lest this magnificent house of knowledge, and the person or persons responsible for its foundation and survival fade away into oblivion unwept, un-honoured and un-sung (quoting words off the poem 'Elegy in a village church yard' of Thomas Gray). With the advent of the Christian Missionaries in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in the 17th century, at a time when the British Imperialists were holding sway of the island, propagating the Christian religion, there had been a tremendous upsurge in the dissemination of their religion and their language, 'English' sweeping the whole country. Thus it had come to pass 89 years - almost eight decades ago - an arrival of a Christian missionary priest who had happened to occupy the then tiny vicarage of St. Mary's Church in Veyangoda. Soon after the arrival of the priest, Rev. Fr. Theodore G. Perera, as the vicar of the church, the purpose being to cater to the religious of the wealthy feudal lords of the Siyane Korale, that maintained the church and the vicar, this good priest conceiving the idea that an English school was a crying need for the bright eyed, intelligent bonny boys and girls of Veyangoda, with the encouragement and blessings of the Christian hierarchy and the equally potential support of the village folk, started the first ever English school - though fee levying. Finally, in 1910, in a cadjan thatched hut, right opposite the vicarage, the tiny school was started with ten children - both boys and girls. Comprising four children of one village family, two of the deacons of the church and also with four other children, the school had commenced backed by the late Julius M. A. Fernando, a young assistant teacher then attached to Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa, who volunteered to serve the church missionary on a pittance of a salary of Rs. 15 per month. The late Mr. Fernando the first headmaster of the school was a past pupil of Trinity College, Kandy and veteran cricketer at that time. This massive complex that housed over 400 or more students - this massive mansion of knowledge in the heart of the town of Veyangoda survived well over 80 years like a colossal elephant until it gracefully knelt down and collapsed, one day, raising its trunk trumpeting sweetly its swan song echoing far into the distant horizon. The original two-storeyed building complex stood triumphantly waving its banner with the motto 'Nil Nisi Bonum' boldly imprinted on its face, over the bright blue skies for over sixty years until it came to be vested in the state in the mid-1950s. With the collapse of the old building; vesting over the control and management of the school by the state, there erupted in the vicinity a group of smaller buildings to house the students on roll and thus came to be referred as Santa Maria Madya Maha Vidyalaya of Veyangoda. With a sense of gratitude we remember a group of teachers who played an important role to prevent the school from facing a financial crisis and collapsing in the early 1940s with the dwindling number of students on roll and the lack of funds to meet the annual commitments due to the management. This was a major crisis. To avert this inevitable disaster and to help sustain the survival of the school the teachers at that time viz., Messrs the late J. S. A. Fernando, late V. Chorley a Mauritian graduate and science teacher, the arts teacher Miss B. Peiris, the late A. Amerapema, the vernacular teacher - Head of the primary school, the late S. Piyasena, Assistant Vernacular Teacher and a few others sacrificed their salaries completely to save the school. Today, in a scattered number of smaller blocks, St. Mary's College now named the 'Santa Maria Maha Vidyalaya' stands catering to the needs of over 1,920 students with 60 teachers on the staff. St. Mary's College, the gracious Alma Mater of many students could claim a large number of past students holding high professional posts such as doctors, lawyers, both advocates and proctors, artists, literary geniuses, poets, authors both locally and internationally acclaimed, teachers and even personnel holding very high ranks in the three armed forces viz. the army, the navy and the police. |
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