Sri Rahula Vidyalaya celebrates 135th Anniversary today
far behind when compared to other schools in the Panadura area due to the preference given by the people to popular schools in Panadura. Amid hardships, the school recorded several achievements owing to the dedication of the staff.
Sri Rahula Vidyalaya came first at the Western Province Inter-school English Drama Competition in 2008.
A student of the school, Nei Razeena won the prize for the best actor in the English drama section at the literary festival held with the participation of three schools in the area on October 1, 2008 by the Wanduramulla East Samodahitha Youth Club affiliated to the National Youth Services Council.
The school has been able to avoid the threat of closure due to the efforts of the present Principal H.r.k.perera. Since 2010 the school has shown rapid development and excellent results at the GCE Ordinary Level examination.
The resource persons and organisations including the Western Provincial Council provided funds to repair the buildings that had been on the verge of collapse. The Asia Foundation donated two large consignments of books, Wanduramulla East Samodahitha Youth Club constructed the school play ground , restored the water service, and conducted English classes, and a past pupil Tilak Perera , now resident in Norway, donated computers , a photostat machine and requisites for the school band. UNICHELA, a garment factory in Panadura also deserves the gratitude of all those concerned .
The school has been able to avoid the threat of closure due to the efforts of the present Principal H.r.k.perera
Sri Rahula Vidyalaya, in Bandaragama Education Zone celebrates its 135th anniversary today. The history of the school runs as far back as the Dutch Period when the education was in the hands of Christian missionaries. The Wanduramulla missionary school was one of the Dutch-time schools established by a missionary society. However when British East India Company took over the rule of Maritime Provinces from the Dutch, the missionary schools that propagated Protestant Christianity through swabasha had declined.
The first British Governor Fredric North , (1798- 1805)who was a devoted Christian gave a new impetus to missionary schools. But the government had not shown any interest and the successors Thomas Maitland, Robert Brownrigg, and Edward Barnes. Governor Wilmot Horton who took over the reins of the government in 1831 had ordered the closure of all vernacular parish schools that existed from the Dutch Period.
Meanwhile anti-christian movements destroyed most of the missionary schools housed in temporary sheds. The Wanduramulla missionary school was one of them.
Any information about Wanduramulla school was not available until 1880 when Sri Rahula Vidyalaya , a senior mixed school , was established at the location by the Buddhist Theosophy Society . According to the available records the founder of the Sri Rahal Vidyalaya was Ven Dodanduwe Piyarathana Thera. However the school had been housed in a temporary building thatched with cadjan.
In 1932 a philanthropist in the area Mr. L.r.perera donated a plot of land belonging to his family to build a permanent building. It is today the main building of the school. He was appointed the manager of the school.
The Wanduramula Sri Rahula Vidyalaya , which had been a assisted school, was taken over by the government on December 1960. However, its development lagged