D. S. Senanayake College

D. S. Senanayake College
Location
D. S. Senanayake College
Location in Colombo
62 R. G. Senanayake Mawatha, Colombo
Sri Lanka
Coordinates 6°54′30.1284″N 79°52′29.4024″E / 6.908369000°N 79.874834000°E / 6.908369000; 79.874834000Coordinates: 6°54′30.1284″N 79°52′29.4024″E / 6.908369000°N 79.874834000°E / 6.908369000; 79.874834000
Information
Type National
Motto Sinhalese: තමාට පෙර රට
(Country Before Self)
Established 10 February 1967 (1967-02-10)
Founder R. I. T. Alles
Principal R. M. M. Rathnayake
Staff 275
Grades 1 - 13
Gender Boys
Enrollment 6800
Colour(s) Black& gold
         
Song Sip Satha Sis Wetha
Publication Siyapatha
Website www.dsscoba.com

D. S. Senanayake College (Sinhala: ඩී.එස්.සේනානායක විද්‍යාලය D. S. Senanayaka Vidyalaya) (also referred to as DS) is a selective entry boys' school in Sri Lanka. It was established on 10 February 1967 under the stewardship of Sir R. I. T. Alles.[1][2] As a national school it is controlled by the central government, as opposed to a provincial council.

The College is named after the first Prime Minister of Independent Sri Lanka, Don Stephen Senanayake, who is also considered the Father of the Nation. It's the only muti-ethnic, trilingual school established in Sri Lanka in the post-independence era and is also the largest muti-ethnic school in the country.

Overview

R. I. T. Alles was the founding principal

D. S. Senanayake College, situated on R. G. Senanayake Mawatha (formerly Gregory Road),[3] Colombo, Sri Lanka. School has current enrollment of over 6800 students with an academic staff over 275. The school is listed among the National Schools, which come under the administration of the Ministry of Education, thus has direct funding from the ministry.

The College provides education to students from Grade 1 to 13 in Sinhala, Tamil and English language. It also provides Mathematics, Science, Commerce,Technical & Arts fields for the Advance Level Examinations. The school is fully equipped with modern classrooms, multiple science laboratories and computer laboratories, swimming pool complex,grounds and sports complex for sports activities. It also has more than 35 Clubs, Societies & Associations engaged in all types of Co-curricular activities. There are wide range of sporting activities.

History

In 1965 the number of requests to admit children into the Royal College Primary had become excessive. Thus the Minister of Education I. M. R. A. Iriyagolla took the initiative to build a new school in Cinnamon Gardens on the lines of Royal College, Colombo.[4] In 1967 Minister Iriyagolla began the ground work for establishing the school. It was named after D. S. Senanayake, who was the first prime minister of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) after gaining independence. R. I. T. Alles, an assistant principal at Royal College became the Head Master of the new school. The location in which the college stands today was at that time called the Kumbikale jungle.[5]

Houses

Students are placed in one of four houses according to their admission number.They compete each year to win the Inter-house Competitions.

  •      – Shura (ශූර)
  •      – Meththa (මෙත්ත)
  •      – Weera (වීර)
  •      – Shantha (ශාන්ත)

School anthem

Old crown crest

Sinhala version of School anthem was composed by Navarathna Attanayake and the lyrics are by Premakeerthi de Alwis. Tamil version of the school anthem was written by Sillayoor Selvarajah. The anthem is recited every morning in school days.

Coat of arms

The Coat of Arms is a shield which is partitioned into two parts. The upper section has the lion of the Sri Lankan flag and the lower section has an oil lamp. A wreath of paddy is partially encircling the shield and the motto Country Before Self is in a scroll. Some decades back, the crown of the Kandyan monarch which is depicted in the crest of Royal College Colombo, was depicted in the school's crest as well.

"Battle of the Golds"

In 2007, D.S.Senanayake College started playing their annual cricket encounter (Big Match) known as "Battle of the Golds" with Mahanama College.The big match is played annually between the schools with a great pride and it had been a great pitch of introducing new and talented school cricketers to the Sri Lanka national cricket team over the era.

Sports

  • Athletics
  • Archery
  • Badminton
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Body Building
  • Eastern Cadet Band
  • Western Cadet Band
  • Cadet Platoon
  • Chess

List of clubs, societies and associations

School hostel

The hostel of D.S.Senanayake College provides accommodation to over 200 students. The Government of Sri Lanka offered a building previously occupied by the Crime Investigation Bureau in 2003. After renovating the building the school hostel was opened in January 2003. In 2017, a solar power panel system was fixed by the Old Boys Association in the school hostel by making it The Island's first school hostel with a solar power conservation system.

Prefects

The Prefects body is composed of Student Volunteers, Student Guides and Senior Prefects. The Student Volunteers are selected from Grade 12 and they go onto become Students Guides in Grade 13. After completing the GCE (Advanced Level) examination they are promoted to the Senior Prefects' Guild.

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
Aravinda de Silva International Cricket Player (1984–2002)
Hashan Tillakaratne International Cricket Player (1989–2004)
Anuradha Dullewe Wijeyeratne Sabaragamuwa Provincial Councilor (1988–1993), acting Diyawadana Nilame - Temple of the Tooth (1975–2005)
Asoka Abeygunawardana Chairman / CEO of Strategic Enterprise Management Agency
Pubudu Dassanayake International Cricket Player (1993–1994)
Binura Fernando Twenty20 International cricket player (2015)
Udaya Gammanpila Member of Parliament (Colombo 2015–present)
Nadeeka Guruge Musician
Kosala Kuruppuarachchi International Cricket Player (1986–1987)
Naveed Nawaz International Cricket Player (1984–2002)
Lahiru Perera Musician
Isuru Udana One Day International cricket player (2012)
Udara Rathnayake Actor, Western Provincial Councillor (2014–present)
Prasanna Vithanage Film Director, Activist

References

  1. ↑ Shanika Perera (August 1, 2010). "D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo - A leader in every way". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
  2. ↑ D.S.Senanayake College OBA - D.S.Senanayake College OBA
  3. ↑ "President renames Gregory's Road as R. G. Senanayake Mawatha". Daily News. 16 July 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  4. ↑ Bogoda Premaratne (2007-10-04). "Success story of an educator". Sri Lanka News | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
  5. ↑ Sunalie Ratnayake (2006-04-01). "D.S. Senanayake College -unity in diversity". History. Tamil Week. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
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