E-village movements shoot Elapatha MV to the top
Ratnapura,elapatha Maha Vidyalaya is situated at Nivithigala educational zone, Elapatha A.G.A. division in Sabaragamuwa Province. The school is famous not only in the province but also in the whole Island for its E-village movements.
Elapatha Maha Vidyalaya started her school journey with 21 students and 2 teachers, in a small hut at a place called ‘Kanupawitain 1942. Rev, Dheerananda from Ginihiriya led some other wellknown senior citizens in the area to establish this school. Later Mr. E.D. Elapatha from Elapatha‘ Walawwa’ , donated a block of land to this school in 1952 , as a result this school was shifted to the place where it is situated at present. It earned the status of Maha Vidyalaya in 1954.
It is as old as Kandyan history or perhaps older. It was home to more than eight generations of Elapathians. Situated on the banks of the Walawe River, Elapatha Walauwa still stands as it is used to more than 400 years ago. A bumpy and rocky road takes us to the Walauwa, which stands on high ground. Surrounded by ancient trees, the first glance of the Walauwa gives the impression of an ancient man surrounded by all his old companions.the dignity of the ancient Elapathawalauwa still remains with its simple but elegant woodworked door and window frames, its Sinhala ulu laid roof, its antiques, huge barns and shady courtyards.
At this point in time the school is boosted with a very talented E-village team and the team is carrying-out some amazing e-programmes in the village. The students conduct training programmes for the vil- lagers. They have created their own blogs of websites to show their talents to the world.
Currently the school functions as a 6 to 13 school and shelters nearly 900 students to provide eminence education with the help of 55 well qualified teachers. The leadership is given to the hands of Mr. B. Withanage who devotes his service to up-lift the standard of education.
The Wi- Fi system and the e-village programme brought the teaching-learning process to a high standard which enable the students to earn great victories in their public examinations. The G. C. E.( O/ L) examination brought more than 70% results and the A/ L emerged 40% which is a countless achievement to a village school comparing to the leading school.
Elapatham.v.was selected as anisuru School under Isuru Project which has given so many developments to the school. The present principal Mr. B. Withanage stated When we were selected to the Isuru School project in 2006, I was glad as and we gradually developed in our physical as well as educational structure. The building construction is done under the guidance of the Ministry of education(isuru Project) with the help of the donation of 35 million rupees from Asian Development Bank. I am proud to declare that our school has selected and under construction of 1000 school project too.i appreciate the effort that my staffs take to build up the students with good qualities as well as education,giving priority to our vision Nurturing Excellence, and the mission.
Elapatha M.V. shines not only in their IT projects but also glarein aesthetic fields. In the year of 2011 the dancing group won three 1st places in the provincial school dancing competitions and participated in the All Island competitions. The eastern music group won one 1st place in the provincial competition and participated in the All Island competitions.
Starting as a poor village school, Elapatha Maha Vidyalaya gained a high reputation only by means of hardworking of the principal, teachers and students which is a good example for all the leading schools in the Island.
Sujitha Miranda