Isipathana College

Isipathana College
Location
Colombo
Sri Lanka
Coordinates 6°53′15″N 79°52′06″E / 6.88750°N 79.86833°E / 6.88750; 79.86833Coordinates: 6°53′15″N 79°52′06″E / 6.88750°N 79.86833°E / 6.88750; 79.86833
Information
Type National
Motto Pali : "දළගං පගණත විරියං"
Sinhala : "අදිටනින් වෙර වඩමු"
English : Strive With Determination
Established 1952 Feb 02
Founder Mr. B.A. Kuruppu
Principal Premasiri Epa
Staff 250
Grades Class 1 - 13
Gender Boys
Age 5 to 19
Enrollment 5000
Colour(s)

Dark and Light Green

        
Website www.isipathana.lk
The word "Isipathana" is a synonym for Rugby in Sri Lanka for their proud history and heritage in schools' rugby. The school is responsible for producing many top-notch rugby players for the nation.

Isipathana College[1] (formerly known as Greenlands College[2]) is a boys' National school located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Founded in January 1952, the school was initially named as Isipathana Maha Vidalaya,[3] but is now referred to simply as "Isipathana". It is considered as one of the leading national schools in the island.

History

In January 1952, with an intake of 400 boys who constituted the overflow from the Royal Preparatory School, Greenlands College was established in a coconut grove amidst the lush greenery of Havelock Town on Greenlands Road (after which it was named), about 7 acres (28,000 m2) in extent.

The first Principal was Mr. B.A. Kuruppu (1952 -1959) who was then the vice principal of Blue Street Central College, Kotahena.

The initial admissions were made by a Board composed of Principals of Royal College Colombo and Thurstan Colleges and the Head Master of Royal Preparatory School; classes were organized in all three streams - Sinhala, Tamil and English, with a tutorial staff of seven teachers.

The College crest was designed by the first Principal with the assistance of Mr. J.D.A. Perera and Mr. Stanley Abeysinghe of Heywood School of Art, with the lighted lamp and open book and motto "Strive with determination". The college colours dark and light green were selected from the name of the college (Greenland College).

The first sportsmeet was held in March 1953 and the first prize giving in 1954.

The first issue of the college magazine came out in 1954. In 1956 "Vihara Mandiraya and Chaitya" was built to commemorate "Buddha Jayanthi year" at school premises. The college had adapted itself to the socio-cultural changes which were taking place since Buddha Jayanthi in 1956 which led to the renaming of the college in 1961. Greenlands Road had been renamed as "Isipathana Mawatha"[4] after Isipathanaramaya Temple and the school was renamed as "Isipathana Maha Vidyalaya". Within a decade "Greenlands" became "Isipathana".

In 1962 the college was divided into two schools as Kanishta (Junior) and Jeshta (Upper) Vidyalayas(Colleges) as with two Principals. In 1975 the Education Department amalgamated Kanishta Vidyalaya(Junior College) with the Maha Vidyalaya(Senior College). In 1999 the school was once again morphed into Isipathana College under the leadership of one principal

The current Principal is Mr. Premasiri Epa. The School currently institutes more than 5000 students. From Grade 1 to grade 13.

Principals

Name From To
Mr. B.A. Kuruppu 1 January 1952 11 October 1959
Mr. S.J. Rodrigo 12 October 1959 07 January 1965
Mr. A.H. Wijetunge 8 January 1965 28 May 1965
Mr. H.R. Perera 1 June 1965 31 July 1966
Mr. H D De Silva - Acting Principal 1 August 1966 31 July 1967
Brevel. Col. G.W. Rajapakse 1 August 1967 30 June 1969
Mr. W.T.P.T. Thilakaratne 1 July 1969 9 February 1971
Mr. T.E. de S. Leelananda 10 February 1971 22 October 1979
Mr. S. de Muthukumarana 23 October 1979 30 December 1980
Mr. V.S. Kudaligama 1 January 1981 5 January 1981
col. Gamini Chandrasekara 6 January 1982 30 January 1987
Mr. D.G.W. Jayasinghe 1 February 1987 7 January 1997
Mr. H.A. Upali Gunasekara 10 January 1997 31 February 2002
Dr. Punyadasa Kuruppu 1 January 2003 19 July 2010
Mr. I. M. Kamal Palitha Illanasinghe 20 July 2010 30 May 2011
Mr. A. M. A. A. C. Perera 1 June 2011 15 May 2015
Mr. Epa K. Premesiri 1 June 2015 Present

http://isipathana.itgo.com/pp.htm

Houses

The students are divided into four Houses:

Color :     Yellow

Color :      Red

Color :      blue

Color :      green


The names are derived from four poets - Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula Thera, Rabindranath Tagore, John Milton and Sir Muhammad Iqbal. The houses compete to win the inter-house games.

Innovations

Isipathana College was...

1. The first school to publish a periodical children’s news paper with an editorial board consisting of students only.[5]

2. The first school to provide the learning of Japanese language and culture from grade 2 onwards.[5]

3. The First school to be Triple Champions in Sri Lanka schools rugby.[5]

4. The first school to produce a cadet platoon band.[5]

5. The first school to produce a Test Player who turned Test Umpire.[5]

6. The first school to develop a web site for an UN Organization by its students.[5]

7. The first school to produce a photographic laboratory.[5]

8. The first school to produce a Test Cricketer to take the first hat-trick for Sri Lanka.[5]

9. The school that produced the first ever Sri Lankan to be appointed by the International Rugby Board (IRB) as the Referee Trainer for the Asian Region.[5]

10. The first school to produce a documentary of the school on a CD.[5]

11. The first Sri Lankan school to win the Most Disciplined Team Award at the 10th International Convention on Students' Quality Control Circle at Lucknow, India in 2007.[5]

Annual big match

Isipathana play Thurstan in their Annual Big Match and it is called Thurstan-Isipathana.[6] Out of the 52 matches played between Thurstan College and Isipathana College 6 matches has been won by Thurstan college while Isipathana college has only won 5 while the other matches ended in a draw.

Sports

Sport is a major part of Isipathana College, with over 15 different sports played. Taking center stage of the annual sporting calendar are the annual Isipathana -Thurstan cricket encounter (Big Match), the Royal-Isipathana Rugby encounter (for the Maj. Milroy Fernando Trophy) and the Isipathana - Thurstan Rugby Encounter (for the Abdul Jabbar Trophy).

Annual Fixture Isipathana College Vs. Thurstan College Big Match Battle of the Brothers played annually since 1963[7]

Annual Fixture Isipathana College Vs. Thurstan College for the Abdul Jabar Trophy Rugby Isipathana College Vs, Royal College for the Maj. Milroy Fernando Trophy

Notable alumni

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
Name Notability Reference
Thero, Gangodawila SomaGangodawila Soma Thero buddhist monk
Gurusinha, AsankaAsanka Gurusinha international cricket player (1985–1996) [8]
de Mel, AshanthaAshantha de Mel international cricket player (1982–1986)
de Silva (cricketer), AsokaAsoka de Silva (cricketer) international cricket player (1985–1991)
de Silva, AravindaAravinda de Silva international cricket player (1984–2002)
de Silva, RohanRohan de Silva pianist
Paranathala, JayanthaJayantha Paranathala international cricket player (1977–1990) [9]
Perera, SureshSuresh Perera international cricket player (1998–2001)
Somapala, ChitralChitral Somapala musician
Tillakaratne, HashanHashan Tillakaratne international cricket player (1989–2004) [8]
Weerasinghe, SanjeewaSanjeewa Weerasinghe international cricket player (1985)
Zoysa, NuwanNuwan Zoysa international cricket player (1997–2004)

References

  1. ↑ "Isipathana College Online Information Centre". Isipathanaonline.info. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
  2. ↑ "About Isipathana College". Isipathanaonline.info. 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
  3. ↑ Shamseer Jaleel (2003-06-29). "A few hiccups but Isipathana are strong and agile as ever". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
  4. ↑ http://www.ceylonlanka.info/2013/02/street-names-in-colombo.html
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Isipathana was the first to...". Isipathanaonline.info. 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
  6. ↑ Thushan Jayasuriya (2013-03-22). "Isipathana - Thurstan clash for 50th time". Daily News. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
  7. ↑ http://www.nation.lk/edition/sport-online/item/38800-isipathana-and-thurstan-play-out-big-match-draw.html
  8. 1 2 http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/599793.html
  9. ↑ http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=sports/jayantha-paranathala-national-cricketer-and-fine-administrator
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