Telijjawila Central is heading towards being an ideal school
Telijjawila Central College is one of the pioneers of fifty four Central Colleges started under the great leadership of Dr. C.W.W. Kananangara the then Minister of Education who is fondly referred to as the ‘Father of Free Education.
Telijjawila Central College is a government school which is located in the Akuressa Road,Telijjawila Village. The college is situated in a hilly area, close to the Weligama Akuressa main road with natural surroundings. The college was initially founded as a Buddhist school and presently consists of over 2500 students with children studying from primary level to secondary level education with a faculty of 130 teachers.
The College commenced its operation on February 1946. Mr. H.L. Wimalasuriya was the first principal of the College. He had a handful of devoted teachers like Mr. Wijewardana, Mr. Mendis, Miss. Podinona and Mr. Rathnayaka. The school consisted of a mixed student population with boarders and day scholars.
Under the leadership of Mr. Wimalasuriya the college expanded day by day despite the shortage of building and other facilities. Apart from one permanent building there were few temporary halls with cadjan roofs. However the quality of education was excellent. In addition to the regular subjects in the curriculum all had to follow aesthetic activities such as Music, Dancing and Art, Crafts such as woodwork, Motor mechanism and Weaving and indulge in physical activities such as P.T. and Sports. The medium of instruction was English and there were only Arts subjects and aesthetic subjects.
Amidst a shortage of buildings and other facilities the school, in no time, became well-known and one of the best schools in Ceylon, owing to the principal’s versatility and perseverance. To encourage healthy competition among the pupils they were categorized into three groups - Shakya, Mayura, Nanda and Wimalasuriya. This era was active with concerts, sports meets ,essay competitions followed by the prizegiving. The college stood in par with all the leading schools in the island.
The first batch of students sat for the Senior School Certificate in December 1952 and obtained the best results in the Matara District.The college functioned in this premises until 1955 during which year it was shifted to the present location at Udukawa, the hillock facing the paddy fields with a rich scenic beauty. The school was declared open in these premises during the tenure of principal Mr.R.B. Gallella on July 15, 1955 by Prime Minister Sir John Kotalawala. He was a prominent educationist and a disciplinarian who won the hearts of all students.
Under the programme “Improvement of Selected Madya Maha Vidyalaya and Maha Vidyalaya”, devised by the Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Information, this college has been proposed as a National School.
At present, the school occupies a prominent place as the results of G.C.E.(O/L) and G.C.E (A/L) are excellent when compared to the other schools in the Southern Province. The present principal Mr. Wimal Widanapathirana is the pioneer in this field as it was he who encouraged the teachers to conduct extra classes for the students. He gets the students to work on past papers before facing their final examinations which brings a whole lot of success to the college. The results obtained by students they enjoy 98.6% in their G.C.E. (O/L). In 2010, 335 students, out of 503 who sat for the G.C.E (A/L) examination, obtained entry into universities and 24 of them obtained 3 A’s which was a great achievement to a village school.
Telijjawila C.C. has gained a reputation for their extracurricular activities as well. Sport is one of the fields where these students have shone. The college under 17 cricket team won the championship in 2008 and the college throw ball team emerged the all island champions in 2010.
The school has achieved glory in almost every active sphere. In Aesthetics,they have won so many national levels, provincial level and zonal level medals in drama, dancing, music and language day competitions.
The present principal Mr. Wimal Widanapathirana said, “I’d like to thank my tutorial staff for bringing all island victories to the school in co-curricular and extracurricular activities, making the school a splendid oasis, showing recorded examination results, making the darkness of violence fade away and lead towards a decent and calm pattern of conduct. As a result my beloved students are stepping towards “a perfect school”.
Our vision is “Towards an ideal school”. We’ve already stepped onto this path. We need the aid of the entire community as well as the community to maintain it and construct an ideal school. It is a well-known fact that the students are the backbone of a country; therefore, it is our bounded duty to mould the younger generation to get over the obstacles and challenges in the future”. The history of the college has proved that the college can produce great personalities and the country can be proud of it.