Creators of Modern Education in Sri Lanka

Nalaka Gunawardene & Vindana Ariyawansa

Sri Lanka's formal education system is the product of decades of public investments by successive governments, complemented by over a century of painstaking work by a large number of teachers, school principals, philanthropists and others. Imperfect though it may be, the education system is one of the greatest social assets of the nation.

In today's Wiz Quiz, we look back at some of the key individuals and institutions that helped create that legacy.

1. The American national Col Henry Steel Olcott (1832 - 1907) is a revered figure in the history of Buddhist revival and education in Sri Lanka. He was initially trained in agriculture, and then excelling in both law and journalism, he had a distinguished career in the military and government before taking to full time spiritual advocacy and cross-cultural understanding. Working with like-minded Lankans, he was instrumental in starting leading Buddhist schools in Sri Lanka such as Ananda College in Colombo, Mahinda College in Galle and Dharmaraja College in Kandy. What was the non-governmental organization that was founded in New York, United States of America (USA), in 1875 that provided the institutional framework for all this Buddhist educational activity in Ceylon, right under the nose of British colonial rulers?

2. C W W (Christopher William Wijekoon) Kannangara is fondly remembered and saluted as the founder of free education in Sri Lanka. The progressive policy created many opportunities for talented young people to pursue their studies to university level without having to pay school fees. He was the first chairman of the Executive Committee of Education in the State Council of 1931 (equivalent of minister today), and was instrumental in introducing extensive reforms to the country's education system. He also started the central schools scheme, which established high quality secondary schools in rural areas. Where was the first ever central school established, first among several dozen?

3. Education reformer C W W Kannangara confronted strong opposition to create a free education system in Sri Lanka. He delivered his speech for six and half hours to convince the members of the State Council to vote for the bill. There was also a public campaign launched by educationists like Dr E W Adikaram, Dr. G P Malalaekera and L H Meththananda to support the bill which was eventually passed in July 1945. Meththananda and Malalasekera, along with Sir D B Jayatilaka, had all headed a leading Buddhist school for boys set up by Col Olcott in 1886. What was this school that figured prominently in Buddhist education and cultural revival in Ceylon?

4. C W W Kannangara joined Anagarika Dharmapala's Temperance Movement and actively worked with its leaders including Sir D B Jayatilaka, D S Senanayake and F R Senanayake. There was another prominent leader in this group who was a planter by profession. He was also a philanthropist and an independent activist of Ceylon who was known for the jack-fruit propagation campaign he pioneered throughout the country. Nicknamed "Kos Mama," he also helped a number of educational establishments in the country. Who was he?

Sir D B Jayatilaka

D S Senanayake

C W W Kannangara

Kathryn Bigelow

5. Sir D B Jayatilaka (1868 - 1944) was a leading scholar, educationist and later diplomat in pre-independent Ceylon. He first met Col Henry Steel Olcott in 1890 and joined his campaign to establish English medium Buddhist educational institutions across Sri Lanka. In 1898, he became the principal of a Buddhist High School in Kandy that Olcott and his associates had founded in 1887. By what name is this leading school known today?

6. Edward Winifred Adikaram (1905 - 1985), better known as Dr E W Adikaram, was an eminent educationalist, writer and a social activist in Sri Lanka.

He established several schools including Anula Vidyalaya, Nugegoda, and groups like the Young Thinkers' Club, the Vegetarian Society of Sri Lanka and the Krishnamurti Centre. He wrote series of school texts on general science and many newspaper articles on a range of subjects including social criticism, physical and environmental sciences. Dr. Adikaram also edited a Sinhala magazine that was demystifying and popularizing science. What was its name?

7. He was the first cabinet minister of education in Ceylon from 1947 to 1954, and later served as the cabinet minister of health. He was a reservist officer in the Ceylon light infantry and as the education minister, moved forward work started by C W W Kannangara in reforming and expanding state schools. Who was he?

8. Dr T B (Tuan Burhanuddin) Jayah was a Lankan educationalist, politician and a diplomat. He entered politics in 1924 and was elected to the Legislative Council to represent the minority communities. From 1936 to 1947, he served in the State Council of Ceylon. Earlier, in 1921, he was appointed Principal of a leading Muslim boys' school in Colombo and he was able to develop it to the standards of other leading schools and also established branches in Matale, Alutgama and Puttlam. What was this school?

9. At the beginning of the 20th century, this wealthy Lankan widow from Panadura was left in control of a vast fortune made in plantation agriculture and liquor trade, part of which she used to found a school for Buddhist girls in Colombo in 1917. Originally known as Buddhist Girls College, it moved to its current premises at Vajira Road, Colombo, in 1927 and became known as Visakha Vidyalaya. Who was the school's founder, whose life story was written in 1997 by journalist Manel Tampoe under the title "Buddhist Female Philanthropy and Education"?

10. Trained in mathematics and armed with a masters degree in education, this scholar became the first Lankan Professor of Education in 1957, and also served as Head of the Department of Education at the University of Ceylon. The department was set up as a result of a recommendation made by the Special Committee of Education (1943) popularly known as Kannangara Committee. He chaired the country's first ever commission of education appointed in 1961, and proposed far reaching reforms on many areas of education. He also produced 12 Sinhala textbooks in mathematics in a simplified form for the benefit of students and teachers, which were popular in schools for two decades. Who was he?

11. It is Japan's third largest city, located at the mouth of the Yodo River and is one of Japan's commercial and industrial hubs. This is where its famous namesake castle, once one of Japan's largest.

The castle was built in 1586 by the warrior general Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but what visitors see today is a reconstruction because the original was later destroyed. What is this city?

12. The Ryukyu Kingdom was an independent monarchy that reached its economic height in the 15th and 16th centuries. Despite its small size, the kingdom played a central role in the maritime trade networks of medieval East and Southeast Asia.

Ryukyu established tribute state relations with China and sent their trade ships as far away as Indonesia, Malaya, Ceylon and even Africa. The Kingdom was taken over by the feudal domain of Satsuma at the beginning of the Edo Period, and was eventually made a prefecture of Japan in modern times. The seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom is known by what name today?

13. After winning an Academy Award for The Hurt Locker in 2009, American filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow is back with a docu-drama about Osama bin Laden. It centres on the US Navy Seal unit that raided bin Laden's compound in northern Pakistan in 2011. What is this film's title, directed by Bigelow and written by Mark Boal?

14. "Ranchagoda Lamaya" was the name of a daily column in the form of a two stanza poem that was highly popular in the daily Sinhala newspaper Aththa (now defunct), owned and published by the Communist Party of Ceylon.

The versified column was heavily laced with biting sarcasm and criticism of whomever was in power, and had a wide following during the 1970s and 1980s.

Name the senior journalist, who was also a novelist, poet and radio play writer, who wrote this column.

15. In the history of Test cricket which has been an international sport for over a century, only one batsman has the distinction of hitting the very first ball of a test match for six runs.

This batsman is also one of the four Test cricketers to have scored a triple century twice in their careers (the other three being Sir Donald Bradman, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag). Who is this batsman, who was adjudged during the recent World T20 cup as "cricket's best entertainer of the world" by a television (TV) poll?

Last week’s answers

1. Upper Kotmale Hydro power Project
2. Acura
3. Studio Ghibli
4. Jomon
5. The Tale of Genji
6. Portugal
7. Kyoto
8. Bushido
9. Sword
10. Todai-ji Temple
11. Kobe
12. Osaka
13. Steve Jobs
14. Pope Clement VIII
15. Edward L. Strate meyer