St. Thomas' College, Matara

St. Thomas' College
St. Thomas' College
Location
	Matara; Sri Lanka
Coordinates	5°56′54″N 80°32′38″E / 5.94833°N 80.54389°E
Information
Type	Government public school
Motto	Perseverando Vinces (Perseverance conquers all)
Religious affiliation(s)	Christian
Established	10 March 1844; 180 years ago
Founder	N. J. Ondatjee
Principal	P. A. Weerakkody
Staff	144
Grades	Primary to GCE A/L
Gender	boys
Age	6 to 19
Enrollment	3600+
Colour(s)	Chocolate brown and light blue
Song	"Saint Thomas' forever"
Rival	St. Servatius College, Matara, Rahula College, Matara Richmond College, Galle
Affiliation	Anglican Church of Ceylon (one of the first Anglican Missionaries in Sri Lanka)
Website	stcmatara.lk

St. Thomas' College is a government primary and secondary school for boys in Matara, Sri Lanka. The college was initially founded in 1844 as a private Anglican school by Rev. Fr. N. J. Ondatjee, a missionary of the Christian Missionary Society of England,^[2] in Wellamadama, Dondra. It presently has over 3,600+ enrolled students studying primary to secondary education.

History

St. Thomas' College was founded by the Christian Missionary Society of England in 1844. The main concern of the various missionary bodies in Sri Lanka during the early period of British rule in Ceylon was providing English education. As a result of this, St. Thomas' School later became a secondary school in 1914, as St. Thomas' college commenced in a bungalow in the village of Wellamadama, the current location of the University of Ruhuna. ^{[citation needed]}

The school was founded by one of the first Anglican missionaries, Rev. Fr. N. J. Ondatjee, in 1844 with a few students and three teachers. Odantjee was later succeeded by others, including Kumaratunga Munidasa, who promoted Sinhala language and literature. In 1960 St. Thomas' College was vested in the Government after a long period of missionary control. K. B. Jayasuriya became the first principal under Government administration. J. E. M. Fernando, K. B. Jayasuriya and E. A. de L. W. Samarasinghe reactivated the college's old boys association, which was defunct after its inauguration by S. J. Gunasekeram in 1934. B. D. Jayasekera designed the college flag and the crest in the early 20th century.^[2]

The Buddhist shrine room constructed at the college premises by the Old Boys Association in 1999 was inaugurated by Madihe Pannaseeha Thero, a Buddhist priest and also a past student of the college.^{[citation needed]}

The school is one of the oldest cricket-playing schools in the island and plays St. Thomas'–St. Servatius Cricket Encounter with St. Servatius' College. This is the second oldest cricket encounter in the island, also known as the Southern Battle of the Blues or Battle of the Ruhunu. ^{[citation needed]}

Past principals

N. J. Ondatjee (1844–1848)
Abraham Dias Abeysinghe (1848–1852)
John Stevensen Lyle (1852 –1854)
F. H. De Winton (1854–1856)
Fedrick Dias Edirisinghe (1856–1858)
Quancy Adams (1858 – 1860)
Clement La–brooy (1860–1865)
A. W. Wijesinghe (1865–1866)
W.E.Ferdinando (1866–1872)
R.O. Macalam (1872–1878)
F.K. Dency (1878–1884)
J. W. Bultjens (1884–1890)
R. C. Reginold (1890–1896)
L. A. Arndt (1896–1902)
S. J. Gunasekeram (1902 – 1903)
C.P. Fernando (1903–1910)
J. C. Handy (1910–1915)
M. S. Solomon (1915–1925)
P.S.Adams (1925–1934)
C. C. P. Arulpragasam (1934–1944)
R. V. L. Pereira (1944–1952)
J. E. M. Fernando (1952–1959)

Government Principals

K. B. Jayasuriya (1960–1975)
E. A. De L. W. Samarasinghe (1975–1985)
B. G. Sisira (1985–1999)
Ratnasiri Suraweera (1999–2011)
W. B. Piyathissa (2011–2021)
T. L. Dayashantha (2021–2022 )
P. A. Weerakkodi (2022–)

College anthem

The school song was composed by Leonard Archibald Arndt (1889–1955), the school's principal between 1931 and 1933.^{[citation needed]}

College houses

There are four student houses in the college, named after four past principals. They are:

Bultjens : Red
Dias : Blue
Ondatjee : Yellow
Edirisinhe : Green

Sports

Cricket

The St. Thomas-St. Servatius Cricket Encounter, also known as Battle of the Blues or Battle of the Ruhunu, is the annual school cricket match played between St. Thomas' College, Matara and St. Servatius' College since 1900. This is the second oldest cricket encounter on the island. ^{[citation needed]} The match has been played as a 3-day game since 2000, which was the centenary match.^{[citation needed]}

Football

The annual Thomas-Rahula Football Encounter' or "Battle of Golden Ensigns" football Match is played between St. Thomas' College, Matara and Rahula College. It is one of the first annual inter-school football matches in Sri Lanka. ^{[citation needed]}

Notable alumni

List of alumni of St. Thomas' College, Matara;

Name	Notability	Reference
*Politics*
Senerat Gunewardene	Ceylon's first Permanent Representative to United Nations, member Parliament Gampola (1947–1948) and Ceylon's High Commissioner to United Kingdom (1961–1963)	^[3]
Justin Wijayawardhene	Member Parliament Matara (1960) Founding member of the United National Party
Badi-ud-din Mahmud	Member Parliament Matara (1963–1977) and Minister of Education (1970–1977)
Chandrasiri Gajadeera	Member Parliament Matara (1994–2001, 2004–2019)
Weerasumana Weerasinghe	Member Parliament Matara (2019–present)
*Public Services*
Madihe Pannaseeha Thero	Buddhist monk (head Amarapura sect 1969–2003)
Cyril de Zoysa	President of the Senate of Ceylon (1960–1965), industrialist, philanthropist
Jabez Gnanapragasam	Anglican Bishop of Colombo (1987–1992)
P. B. Illangasinghe	Sri Lankan notary public and musicologist
Arts
Kumaratunga Munidasa	linguist, poet, author, journalist
Desmond de Silva	Singer	^[4]
Tissa Nagodavithana	Film preservationist
Sports
Indika de Saram	International cricket player (1999–2000)
Prabath Nissanka	International cricket player (2001–2003)