Final Goodbye to Mrs Kumari Hapugalle Perera

Mrs Kumari Hapugalle Perera, former Executive Director of Alethea Group of Schools and Past-Chairperson of The International Schools of Sri Lanka, passed away this week and was laid to rest at the Borella General Cemetery on the 28th of November.

Mrs Perera, an alumnus of Bishop's College and grandchild of Alethea founder Kathrin Hapugalle, comes from a family of prestigious educationists. Mrs Perera herself has impeccable qualifications in education, and had an Executive Diploma in Business Management from the University of Colombo, an MBA from the University of Wales, and completed a course in Early Childhood Education from Haifa University.

She was involved in Alethea from the beginning, joining when her father was Managing Director of the School, but proved herself at the lowest level when she even painted the school furniture at the start of her career in the school.

As she continued to excel in her teaching career, she was made Managing Director of Alethea in 1998. In this position she made important changes in how the school functioned, leading infrastructure developments to improve facilities for students and increasing the number of students from 250 to 1000 during her tenure.

As a pioneering woman entrepreneur, she was awarded the Merit Certificate by the Women's Chamber of Industries and Commerce in appreciation of her skills and dedication to Alethea. Throughout her tenure, she instilled the values of good discipline in her students, a practice she says she continues from her father, and ensured they received the best education by limiting the number of children per class to 30.

Mrs Kumari Hapugalle Perera is survived by her husband Kavan and her children Anitra and Sashien among others. She leaves behind a lasting impact on the school she led, her past pupils and education in Sri Lanka.