Visakha celebrates 90th anniversary in unique style

Sumana Saparamadu

CELEBRATION: On January 16, a week after school re-opened for the new year, Visakha Vidyalaya began her 90th anniversary celebrations with a Bodhi Pooja, followed by a daana to 90 bhikkhus.

On such occasions as Founder's Day etc. in most Buddhist schools, the Principal and staff, prefects and senior students are the active participants in the alms-giving, while the rest of the students are on-lookers on the side, repeating gatha and saying "Sadhu, Sadhu" at the correct time.

On that day at Visakha Vidyalaya a bhikkhu was conducted to each class and daana was offered to the bhikkhu by the students and teachers of that class, observing all the rites attendant at a daana; and the bhikkhu gave a short admonition and blessing. It was a novel and meaningful breakaway from custom, for every student, teacher and parent felt satisfied that they had each contributed to and participated in the daana.

When Mrs. Jeramias Dias of Panadura opened her school in Colombo in January 1917 there was only one other English school for girls in the island, Musaeus College started by Mrs. Marie Musaeus Higgins in Rosmead Place Cinnamon Gardens.

An English school for girls - Sanghamitta College - was opened shortly after the opening of Ananda College, but it had to be closed down after three or four years, for various reasons and another school for girls opened in Kandy about the same time as the school in Colombo, was also short-lived.

The school was opened in a rented house in Turret Road, now Dharmapala Mawatha, on January 16, 1917 with 19 girls and one boy. The first pupil to be enroled was the baby of the group, 5 year old Subadra de Silva (Mrs. Wickramasinghe).

Mrs. Dias handed over her school to a Board of Trustees comprising D.B. Jayatilaka, D.S. Senanayake and S. Thomas de Silva, her son-in-law. The Chairman of the Board was to be the manager of the school.

The school was under the Board's Management until July 1960, when, with the Government's takeover of private schools, Visakha Vidyalaya also became a State school. The first Manager was D.B. Jayatilaka (not yet Knighted), the undisputed Buddhist leader of the time. He was followed by Charles Dias, a son of the Founder in 1939, and N.E. Weerasooriya Q.C. in 1944, who after much deliberation with the Board of Trustees handed over the school to the Government.

It was in 1927, that the school moved to the present premises in Vajira Road, Bambalapitiya. The imposing hostel, designed to accommodate 120 students was built on four acres of land which was a neglected cinnamon plantation. On November 21, 1927 the Governor Sir Herbert Stanley opened the building and named the school Visakha Vidyalaya.

That day the Chairman of the Board of Trustees D.B Jayatilaka made the following entry in the Log Book: "This I venture to think is the largest private contribution to the cause of education in recent times."

The hostel had cost Rs. 157,000 and the grand total which included the cost of the land and the school building, completed a year and half later, was Rs. 450,000.

To mark the opening of the school building, a play - Alice in Wonderland - was staged in the school hall, with 12-year-old Sita de Silva in the role of Alice. The public knows her as Sita Rajasuriya, the first Sinhala Girl Guide Commissioner. Now in her 90th year she lives in retirement at Sarvodaya, the organisation to which she gave many years of service.

Moving into brand new classrooms, (from the cadjan sheds) seems to have been an impetus to students' performance. At the ESLC Examination, the first public examination the students of Visakha Vidyalaya sat, three Visakhians were First, Second and Third in the island. It must have been cause for immense pride and satisfaction to Principal Pearse (later Mrs. Dawes).

From Dr. Bernice Banning to C.H. Pearse the Principal was an English woman. Then in 1933, Clara Motwani, the saree-clad American, just 23, married to an Indian academic, took over as Principal. She introduced the House system, appointed prefects for the first time and rallying past students formed the Old Girls' Association in 1934. Later she started Home Science classes and introduced the Dalton Method to the middle school.

Dilsiri de Silva swears by the Dalton Method: "It prepared me to read for and write tutorials at the University".

Susan George Pulimood's 22 years as Principal is by general consensus the Golden Era of Visakha. She introduced Science into the curriculum and appointed graduates to teach Pali and Sanskrit. Fifty years passed before Visakha Vidyalaya got a Sinhala Principal. Hitherto all principals were foreigners.

Mrs. Hema S. Jayasinghe, who took office on 23 July 1967, was the first Sinhala Buddhist Principal and she was at Visakha's helm for 17 years, maintaining the high standards and enhancing the school's prestige. Her successor Mrs. Eileen Siriwardana presided at the opening of the new hall by President J.R. Jayewardene in October 1983.

The Principals that followed Mrs. Hema Jayasinghe, were like her government appointees, some serving only for two or three years before retirement. The only exception was Mrs. Mercy Edussuriya who served with devotion and distinction for 12 years.

As the demand for hostel accommodation became acute a new wing was built. Construction initiated by Principal Jayasekera was completed after the present Principal Mrs. Rupa Amarasinghe took over.

Among activities planned for this Jubilee Year is the staging of the Visakha Geetha Nataka an operetta based on the life of Visakha Devi, after whom the school is named written by Chandrarathna Manawasinghe in 1957 and set to music by Edwin Samaradivakara.

It was staged that year (40th anniversary) and in 1967, (Golden Jubilee) and in 1992 (75th anniversary) when Mrs. Mercy Edussuriya was Principal. The Visakha Geeta Nataka is scheduled for the last week-end of April.