Former Sri Lankan PM Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s first school was Balangoda VMV
Former Sri Lankan Prime Minister and the World’s first woman Prime Minister Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike had her primary education at Balangoda Vidyaloka Maha Vidyalaya. It is with this foundation the college is now maintaining its reputation as a fine educational institute with a great deal of honour.
Barnes Ratwatte, father of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, donated a part of his property to establish a school for girls in Balangoda area. As a result Balangoda Primary School was established in 1903 with 10 students. The first principal of the school was Mrs. K. Sampohami. In 1968 the school was converted to a mixed school and in 1972 it was promoted to a secondary school. The former principal and the present Deputy Education Director, Mr.k.m.dayawansha is the pioneer behind the development of the school. He has devoted himself to bring the number of students beyond thousand. In 1989 the primary section was shifted from the school and Vidyaloka M. V. was promoted as a 6 to 13 school. This year the school has been selected to the Thousand Schools project.
Quite a lot has changed over the years. Today the school has become Balangoda Vidyaloka M.V. with a student population of more than 800 and employs almost 50 teachers. The leadership has been given to MR.V. Gunathilake.
The school has produced great personalities to the province such as Banu Munipriya, Health Minister of Sabaragamuwa Province, Nimal Gamini Weerasinghe, The Mayor of Balangoda Urban Council, Wasantha Gunarathna, Deputy Mayor of Balangoda Urban Council, Nalin Gunarathna, Sports Iinstructor of Balangoda Educational Zone, Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers and so on.
Balangoda Vidyaloka M. V. has been maintaining a good academic record in their G. C. E.( O/ L) and G. C. E.( A/ L) examinations. They always enjoy more than 75% results in the O/L examination and the Advanced Level brings a couple of 3A’s to their Art stream. The present principal of Sri Buddha Jayanthi M.M.V. is the first student who entered the University from this school. Chanaka Gayan Vithanarachi who is an Art stream student gained 3 A’s in 2011.
The school gives a prominent place to extracurricular activities to strengthen the skills of the students. The dancing group of the school is famous not only in the province but also in the Island for its dancing talent. They were placed 2nd in the All Island Dancing Competition in 2011 for their “Sabaragamuwa Mul Maathra” dance and in 2009 they took 1st place in the same event. Mas. Damith is a talented violinist who was placed first in the All Island Violin Competition in 2010.
The students of Vidyaloka M. V. are now involved in an array of sports including cricket, football, volleyball and athletics and they have brought zonal, district, provincial victories to the school.
The school won the Excellence Award as the Best Environment Friendly School of the Year in 2011. The students of Vidyaloka M.V. are inculcated with good discipline, high leadership skill and principled characters.the school is always under the supervision of the present principal and the teachers devote themselves to uplift the quality of education of the school to compete with the other schools in the province.
The present principal Mr.v.gunathilake stated: “As a Grade 6 to 13 school we have an adequate number of students. We get a lot of support from parents as well as the SDS member. The staff of our college takes the trouble to show their colours at the public examinations to hoist the dignity of the school. I would like to thank all of them for their zest in the success of the school.”