Sujatha Vidyalaya Matara turns 81

Glimpses of its evolution:

Indu SEDARA GUNASEKARA

The dawn of the 20th Century saw the decimation of the Buddha Sasana and the Sinhala language at an alarming rate as a result of years of foreign rule and colonial suppression. As a matter of fact, many young men and women racing to learn English became converts to Christianity in order to find white collar jobs or even to get any kind of favour. Converts got the preference to get an English education 'free of charge'. Buddhist children were debarred from learning English.

The Sinhalese themselves began to look down upon their mother tongue, they even honoured and respected English and emulated Western customs, culture and life-style. This was the pathetic background and pitiful state of affairs that prevailed in the South of Sri Lanka.

This distressing hour of grave need awakened many a patriot Buddhists to rise to the occasion and unite to find an immediate solution to this problem.

Dr V D Gunaratne an erudite scholar who volunteered to step in took the initiative to form a society, " the Matara Buddhist Council"(MBC) of which he became the president. He brought forth the idea of openning a Buddhist girls' school in Matara with the aim of giving an English education within a background of Sinhala life-style, traditions, manners and customs .

Conseqently in May 1929, the doors of this long needed institute housed in the old 'Nosegaha Walawwa' at Nupe were opened by W A De Silva. (Although established in May, the school's anniversary is celebrated in June).

The infant girls' school was given the noble name of 'Sujatha'. A E Mathews, brought down from India was introduced as the first principal of the school which opened with 37 students and four teachers.

The institution opened thus, progressed rapidly with the unstinted, generous backing of the Council members and well-wishers. As the number of pupils on roll increased, more space and many other amenities were required. More stalwarts came to support the school. E T Gunawardhana, M D T Kulathilake, W P Wijetunga, D N J Weerasooriya, C A Harischandra are a few to mention who contributed for the uplift of the school.

Larger premises

In 1932 Sujatha Vidyalaya was shifted to 'Mohotti Walawwa' at Gabadaweediya. Steps were taken to expand the school by putting up temporary classrooms. At this stage the school got registered as a recognized education institution. With the sudden demise of Dr V D Gunaratne the spearhead of the institute, causing a great loss, the upward trend of the school turned round to unforeseen chaos. The school funds dropped, making it difficult for the authorities to make ends meet. The Matara Buddhist Council also became inactive. Sujatha faced a great setback on her path to progress.

However, there was one benefactor who stood by in rain and sunshine. The accountant of the MBC, C A Ariyatilake rose to the occasion took over the management of the school. He supplied the necessary requisites and paid the wages of the staff at his own expense. Ariyatilake goes into the annals of Sujatha Vidyalaya as a great 'Saviour'.

The posts of principals of the school passed down in succession to Doreen Young (wife of Dr S A Wickramasinghe), C Amirthalingam, Kamalan Graig, F D L Hastings, M Mamen, M M Perera and De Saram. Each one's tenure of office was short lived. During De Saram's term, the creator of our National Anthem. Ananda Samarakoon was brought down from Colombo once a week or so to teach us singing. He composed the school anthem 'Sathathina Lakambara heliacara vajambe' together with staff member M Kusuma Abeywickrama. It was sung to the strain of Bharata Jathika Geeya.

A random recall of two stanzas of the old school anthem....

"My own dear school wherever my footsteps wander,

To thee alone my heart still turns again,

For thee my love grows fonder,

Till in its mite it is akin to pain

Even to thee I am bound by love and duty,

No place to me so dear in all the earth, home and love and duty,

I cling to thee dear school that gave me birth"

After C A Ariyatileke the school management was handed over to David Wanigasekara. The golden era of Sujath Vidyalaya dawned with Regina Balasuriya taking over the principal post.

Thereafter Sujatha was reborn, given a new life it became active again. Under Balasuriya's guidance the school rose to the top of the ladder of fame. It was her dream to see Sujatha Vidyalaya housed in its own premises. She left no stone unturned to achieve this goal. Balasuriya set out to collect more funds to suffice for the fulfillment of this noble task.

Sujatha Ulela

With the aim of enriching the Building Fund, the carnival 'Sujatha Ulela' was organised by Balasuriya in collaboration with Wanigasekara, M P Gunawardhana and C A Ariyatilake, A. Perera and the hostel matron Cynthiya Abeyratne who helped in every sphere of work. The carnival ran for two weeks and it became a tremendous success.

A property at Hittetiya, belonging to one Thilakaratne was bought at a cost of Rs 16,000.00. Once when Balasuriya visited this land, she made this remark while standing under the shade of a coconut tree. "How happy I feel to be even under the shade of a coconut tree that we can now call our own". These words still ring in my ears. Soon new buildings were built. It was a dream come true. The new buildings were declared open by the then Prime Minister D S Senanayake.

At this crossroads, Wanigasekara who was getting feeble handed over the management of the school to the safe hands of the State.

Under State control, provision of a large playground, a big hall and a science laboratory was made to L Wedahita. The name of Regina Balasuriya will be inscribed in letters of gold in the annals of Sujatha Vidyalaya.

As the years went by and the attendance increased, the primary section had to be shifted to Welegoda.

Many were the principals who subsequently followed in line contributing for the uplift of the school.

In conclusion, I sincerely wish my alma mater all success in every sphere of work to rise to the place of the most illustrious and prestigious school in Southern Sri Lanka. May the Sujathians be noble, well-disciplined and exemplary daughters, serving Mother Lanka as useful citizens.

May the blessings of the noble triple gem always be with you to guide thee along.