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A human being is not attaining his full heights until he is educated, it is said. Its meaning is exceptionally true and it stresses the point that only an educated human being could attain his full heights in life.
The saying is proven when one looks at the progress of the Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya, a leading Girls' School in Sri Lanka which was a gift to the nation by its founder, Rev. J. H. Wickramanayake, who was an educationalist, writer, and a humanist. Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya was established as the first English school in the town in 1915 and the school name was St. John's Girls school. This year the school proudly celebrates its 98th Anniversary and the school which started with 14 pupils has now developed to cater to more than 3,000 students who are studying in the schools. There are thousands of pupils who learnt their ABCs' from Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya who have become leading figures in the Sri Lankan society. Untiring effort, dedication and generosity supplemented by the dedication of the pioneer principal, Eva Aberatne, laid a firm foundation for St. John's Girls school, which enabled the rise to its present status. The Board of Governors namely J. P. Salgado, T.D.S.A. Disanayake, C.E Ekanayake, H.W.Peries and R.S.Gunathilake rendered their unstinted support and co-operation to firmly establish the institution from its very inception which enabled it to rise to the present status.
When considering the objective of the founder, and the vision of the school that is to mould the children into Perfect Ladies in every aspect, shows the fine objective the school itself had from the very beginning and there's no wonder today that the Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya has become one of the leading girls' schools in the province. Aiming at this goal, the school continually strives to provide an education to enable the pupils to fulfill their potential and to meet responsibilities to the community in keeping with the objective of the founder. It is essential to mention the great contribution made by the pioneer principal, Eva Aberatne from 1915 till 1917. Though it's a relatively short period of time, as a very versatile and dynamic lady with a heart of gold, she served the school with her very best and today the status that Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya carries as her 'dream school' is one that she would have been proud of. Her name will remain etched forever in the memories of the students and teachers who reaped the benefits of her sympathetic and gentle demeanour. Walls of the school buildings still retain the fragrance of the deeds and sacrifices made by Eva Aberatne and her pioneer staff. "It is my great pleasure to serve Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya, being the current principal of the school. I'm really satisfied with the status it carried as a respectable girls' school in the country," said the present principal Wasantha Ranasinghe. Wasantha Ranasinghe, who has ample experiences in the education sphere is the present principal of Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya from 2003. For nearly a decade of her service, the school gathered many awards under the fine guidance of the principal Wasantha Ranasinghe. At the 'Supasan Guru Abhiman' organised by the Western province Education ministry held recently at the Sugathadasa stadium, Wasantha Ranasinghe was felicitated with the 'Best Principal's award which is a great honour specially for the Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya. Also the event revealed that Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya accounted for the best results of 2011 G.C.E. Ordinary Level from the Sri Jayawardhanapura Education Zone.
"Today we are celebrating the 98th Anniversary of Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya, and when completing 98 years we could be one of the best girls' schools in the province by being rewarded at national level. It has been my great pleasure to serve Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya continuously for the past nine years. I must say we are prepared with an extremely qualified panel of teachers and as at today the school is equipped with the latest technology where pupils have a rich background to continue their studies," she said. "Being the present principal it is my ultimate goal to lead the Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya to become the best girls' school in the country while maintaining its unique values we treasure all the time," she stressed. Throughout her nearly a decade of distinguished and inestimable service, there were so many initiatives that were taken by her for the betterment of the school, such as established school library according to the use of each grade of students, to get the support and attention from relevant authorities for the development of school in terms of properties as well as to improve the quality of education. Other than that, to build a strong Old Girls Association and to maintain a healthy, close relationship with them is also another good example to prove the dedication and the straightforward attitude she has for the betterment of the school. Her contribution and dedication to the development of the school is a remarkable achievement which would be written in gold in the history of education and as a tribute for her great involvement, with the involvement of students' parents one of the school buildings in primary section has been named and dedicated to Wasantha Ranasinghe. Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya not only shines in the education field, but also in sports, drama, music and many other areas. For the past few decades Samudradevians have been able to take part in inter schools sports competitions and in every national level school meets and were able to win many awards especially in swimming and netball. In addition, they could mark their imprints in inter school drama competitions and in many debating competitions. Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya also happened to be the first girls school to publish their own publication named 'Samudura Saviors' with the collaboration of Saviour school in Mannar. Unlike most of the leading schools in the country, Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya has a special education unit for the children who are born under special physical and mental conditions. There are a few teachers who are dedicated only for this unit with the special ability of communicating and dealing with this type of special children. The school also has many activity forums such as school debate team, science society, Buddhist society, Arts society, Girl guidance collective and many other activities where it helps develop extra-curricular activities of the students. The Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya not just another school in the country but one which carries all its historical values as well as all the other cultural and moral values for the past 98 years by molding and giving a wholesome education for children to shine throughout Sri Lankan society by being perfect ladies in every aspect. |
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