Schools Ramanathan Hindu Ladies College to mark 30 years with a ‘walk’
Ramanathan Hindu Ladies College was initiated in 1981 to address the urgent need to create an eminent institution for the Hindu ladies based in Colombo. Thus the school was born in response for a need of an institution that gave the aura of Hinduism and passed on the rich Hindu cultural heritage. The chief incumbent of the Kathiresan temple Reverend R.M. Palaniappa Chettiar donated part of the temple land to construct the college.
At its inception the school had only 2 teachers and 26 students, with classes from lower kindergarten to grade six. MR.T. Sangaralingam served as the principal of the school during the initiation stages from January to February 1981. The first appointed principal was Mrs. G. Puvanarajan, whose began guiding the school in February 1981. The school received their first three-storied building in 1982. The school library was declared open in 1983.
Within 25 years, in 2006, the school blossomed to accommodate 89 teachers and 2000 students. The year of the Silver Jubilee also saw the school receive its sixth four-storied building. The educational achievements of the students at Ramanathan Hindu Ladies College ensured that the school was elevated as a National school in December 1994.
The year 2003 saw the school commence education in the bilingual section, where four of the subjects are taught in the English language and the rest of the subjects in tamil.
A great importance is given to nurture an environment of teaching and learning within the school and thus the statue of Goddess Saraswathie, the Goddess of Education and knowledge, is given great importance within the school.
The college honours its past principals who saw that the school travelled a long way within a short period of time and achieved great heights in the field of education and in providing many talented and cultured individuals to society.
The current principal of the school is Mrs. Kothai Nagularaajah, is an efficient leader of the school and guides her students to be smart and in-touch with the Hindu culture and religious practices. The principal has participated in several international education and school management programmes and thus she is able to guide the school with a very clear mission and vision. In 2011, She was felicitated as the best principal in the western province as the recipient of the “Prathibha Praba” award from the President of Sri-lanka.
Ramanathan Hindu Ladies College makes every effort to ensure that the teachers of the school too are well trained. Thus the school has carried out counselling and teacher development programmes to help the academic staff to further develop their teaching skills which in turn benefit the students, as the teachers are able to guide their students properly. Special efforts and arrangements are made so that the teachers are updated on the recent changes in the educational sector as well as in teaching techniques. All teachers were given training in to basic computer skills as well as students who were able to receive many study opportunities in the field of computing, thus developing their skills to work with tools of modern society. Thus, with the help of the Ministry of Education, the school also received a computer laboratory.
The goals of education are to provide students with additional knowledge, and a healthy mind, in an environment free of religious or racial differences. Thus the students of Ramanathan Hindu Ladies College, have achieved great heights in education. 2010 was a milestone year for the college with 42 students being selected to attend university, in the fields of medicine, dentistry, engineering, management, fine arts, agriculture, quantity surveying, ICT etc. Students have notable achievements in the extra-curricular activities including English and Tamil debating, poetry writing, traditional dancing and speech contests.
Ramanathan Hindu Ladies College celebrates 30 glorious years in 2012, to mark this event the school had organised a walk as well as an educational exhibition.
We wish Ramanathan Hindu Ladies College all the best in their future endeavours and may they continue to educate students whilst instilling in them an appreciation for religion and cultural traditions.