St. Aloysius' College, Galle

St. Aloysius' College, Galle
School crest
Address
Map
Templars' Road

Galle
,
Southern Province
80000

Sri Lanka
Coordinates6°2′9″N 80°12′44″E / 6.03583°N 80.21222°E / 6.03583; 80.21222
Information
TypeNational School
Religious affiliation(s)Society of Jesuits and The Church
Established1895; 130 years ago (1895)
FounderSociety of Jesus
PrincipalAbeywardhana Anura Gamage
Grades1 to G.C.E. Advanced Level
GenderBoys
Number of students5000
Colour(s)Green and gold
  
SloganLatin: Certa Viriliter
Strive Manfully
AlumniOld Aloysians
Nickname of StudentsAloysian
Websitewww.facebook.com/SAC.Galle/

Saint Aloysius' College (Sinhala: සාන්ත ඇලෝෂියස් විද්‍යාලය) is a boys' high school located in Galle, the capital city of Southern Province in Sri Lanka. The school was established in 1895 by recently arrived Belgian Jesuit missionaries, led by Joseph Van Reeth, first bishop of Galle. St. Aloysius' College is a national school that provides primary and secondary education. In 2012, it had 4,000 students on its roll.

History

St. Aloysius' College is situated on Mount Calvary, neighbouring St. Mary's Cathedral on one side and Sacred Heart Convent on the other. The college was established in 1895 by Belgian Jesuit fathers and was named after the Jesuit saint, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. St. Aloysius' College, Galle, is one of many schools named St Aloysius' College.

Until the Sri Lankan government passed legislation for the nationalisation of schools in the island (with an exception of only a few schools), St. Aloysius' College was run by Jesuit Fathers, and the medium of instruction was English. The first Buddhist principal was appointed in 1971, and subsequently the medium of instruction was changed to Sinhala.

College today

The college provides education to 5000 students from grade 1 to G.C.E. A/L. The students of the school fall into diverse religious groups where over 90 percent of students are Buddhists and the others are Christian (or Catholic) and Muslim.

Crest

Centre: IHS – Iesus Hominum Salvator("Jesus Saviour of Mankind")
1. The Tusker – Courage
2. Lilies – Purity of conscience
3. Torch – Torch of learning
4. Rooster – Symbol of Galle

Houses

Students represent five houses that are named after Jesuit Fathers who were pioneers in developing the school in its early days. Students are divided into houses according to their admission number.

  •  -Cooreman
  •  -Murphy
  •  -Neut
  •  -Standaert
  •  -Vanreeth

Sports

Sports is a major part of St. Aloysius’ College. Cricket, Basketball, Rugby, Football, Hockey and Swimming are some of the sports among over 20 sports in College. Among all of them, Rugby takes a prominent role as it has a history starting from 1980s. As a foot step of that, with the motto ‘‘ Born with the Stuff ’’ Rugby was introduced at St. Aloysius’ in latter part of 1980s. The first historic match was played in 1992 against Richmond College. Taking centre stage of the annual sporting calendar are the St. Aloysius' - Richmond Rugby Encounter.

Cricket

The Battle of the Glory of Galle is an annual one-day encounter cricket match played between the cricket teams of Vidyaloka College and St. Aloysius' College, Galle. The contest was started in 2019 under the principal of Vidyaloka College;Prasanna Senewirathne, and the principal of St. Aloysius' College, Galle,Nayanapriya Perera and Anura Gamage.

By 2024, four annual competitions have been held, with St. Aloysius' College, Galle having won three times, while Vidyaloka College has yet to win. In 2024, the match ended in a draw due to bad weather conditions.[1] Along with this, a one-day competition of under 15 is also held annually. The matches are be held at the Galle International Stadium.

Principals

Main Hall
Period Principal
1896 – 1910 Joseph Van Reeth
1910 – 1921 Dionysius Murphy
1921 – 1925 John Delaney
1925 – 1949 Ernest Gaspard
1949 – 1962 Paul Nazarine Peiris
1963 – 1968 Paul Caspersz
1968 – 1970 Stephen Fernando (acting)
1970 – 1971 Paul Caspersz
13 June 1971 – 1 April 1972 B. K. Silva
1 April 1972 – 28 February 1973 Dunstan Fernando
28 February 1973 – 3 August 1973 J. B. Varnakulasingham (acting)
3 August 1973 – 22 December 1975 L. D. P. Jayasinghe
22 December 1975 – 25 May 1976 A. B. J. L. Fernando (acting)
25 May 1976 – 7 January 1987 D. Y. Wijewickrama
7 January 1987 – 1996 A. V. Illeperuma
1996 – 2004 N. K. Ariyawansa
2004 –2004 Nandasena Pathirana (acting)
2004 – 2014 D. P. L. S. Gunasekara
2014 - 2014 Piyasiri Kumarage (acting)
2014 - 2017 October Ranjith Thilakarathne
2017 - 2017 L.P.Weeraman (acting)
2017 - 2020 Nayanapriya Perera
2020 - 2024 Anura Gamage
2024–Present Pubudu Sampath

Old Boys' associations

There are a number of branches of the school's Old Boys’ Association located all around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Qatar and the United Kingdom.

Notable alumni

See also: Category:Alumni of St. Aloysius' College, Galle
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Name Notability Reference
Ediriweera Sarachchandra playwright, novelist, poet and literary critic
Cyril Ponnamperuma Scientist (Molecular Evolution) in Exobiology Division at NASA's Ames Research Center [2]
R. I. T. Alles educationist, founder of D. S. Senanayake College (Colombo, Sri Lanka)
N. U. Jayawardena economist, Governor of the Central Bank of Ceylon (1953–1954)
A. C. Alles Judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka (1964–1974)
Shantha Kottegoda General - Commander of the Army (2004–2005)
Lalith Gamage President - Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology
Gihan Wikramanayake Director, University of Colombo School of Computing
D. V. J. Harischandra consultant psychiatrist, author, buddhist scholar
Matarage Sirisena Amarasiri Chief Minister of Southern Province (1998–1993), Governor of Uva (1999–2003)
Chandima Weerakkody Member of Parliament (Galle) (2009–present)
Sunil Santha musician, composer, singer, lyricist
A. R. M. Thassim business owner, philanthropist, Mayor of Galle (1950–51; 1954–62) [3]
Patrick Denipitiya songwriter, composer, music arranger, instrumentalist
Dilith Jayaweera Chairman - George Steuart Group, Director - Citrus Leisure PLC, Managing Director - Triad (Pvt) Ltd
Lalith Jayaweera Air Vice Marshal, Director General Health Services at Sri Lanka Air Force
Chathuranga de Silva One Day International cricket player (2014)
Harsha Vithana First class cricket player
Mohan P. de Silva Member of Parliament (Galle) (2010–present)
Asoka Abeygunawardana Chairman, CEO of Strategic Enterprise Management Agency at Presidential Secretariat
Ashen Bandara International cricketer
Percy Abeysekera Cricket superfan

See also

References

  1. ^ https://www.dailynews.lk/2024/10/10/sports/648919/4th-glory-of-the-galle-l-o-cricket-encounter-today/
  2. ^ "Cyril Ponnamperuma".
  3. ^ The Aloysian, 1915-1990: Diamond Jubilee Souvenir. St. Aloysius' College. 1990. p. 93.