St. Aloysius' College, Galle
St. Aloysius' College 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 fr:Joseph Van Reeth, first bishop of Galle. St. Aloysius' College is a national school, which provides primary and secondary education. In 2012, it had 4,000 students on its roll.
| St. Aloysius' College, Galle | |
|---|---|
 the current crest of the College | |
| Location | |
| , Southern Province | |
| Coordinates | 6°2′9″N 80°12′44″E |
| Information | |
| Type | Started as a Private Catholic, Currently State Run |
| Motto | Latin: Certa Viriliter ("Strive Manfully”) |
| Established | 1895 |
| Founder | Jesuit Fathers |
| Principal | Anura Gamage |
| Grades | 1–13 |
| Gender | Boys |
| Number of students | 5000 |
| Color(s) | Green and Gold |
| Pupils | Aloysian |
| Website | http://www.sac.sch.lk |
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 (born on 9 March 1568). Saint Aloysius' is regarded as the 'Patron Saint of the Youth' by the Jesuits because of the heroic acts that he had performed when he was a young Jesuit helping plague victims in Rome, Italy in 1587. After a few years helping plague victims, young Saint Aloysius died on 21 June 1591 at the age of 23 when he himself contracted the disease. St. Aloysius' College, Galle, is one of many schools named after Saint Aloysius.
Until the Sri Lankan government brought legislation for 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 the year 1971 and subsequently the medium of instruction was changed to Sinhala.
College Today
The college provides education to 4,000 students from grade 1 to grade 13. 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 Muslism.
College Crest's Elements
Center: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
College 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 vital role as it is having a long way of 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 1980’s. 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.
Principals
| Period | Details |
|---|---|
| 1910 – 1921 | Rev. Fr. Dionysius Murphy S.J |
| 1921 – 1925 | Rev. Fr. John Delaney S.J |
| 1925 – 1949 | Rev. Fr. Ernest Gaspard S.J |
| 1949 – 1962 | Rev. Fr. Paul Nazarine Peiris S.J |
| 1963 – 1968 | Rev. Fr. Paul Caspersz S.J |
| 1968 – 1970 | Rev. Fr. Stephen Fernando S.J (Acting) |
| 1970 – 1971 | Rev. Fr. Paul Caspersz S.J |
| 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 (Acting) |
| 2014 - 2017 October | Ranjith Thilakarathne |
| 2017 - 2017 | L.P.Weeraman(Acting) |
| 2017–2020 | Nayanapriya Perera |
| 2020-Present | Anura Gamage |
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
| 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 | [1] |
| 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 | |
| Patrick Denipitiya | songwriter, composer, music arranger, instrumentalist | |
| Dilith Jayaweera | Chairman - George Steuart Group, Director - Citrus Leisure PLC, Managing Director - Triad (Pvt) Ltd | |
| 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,Sri Lanka |
See also
- Saint Aloysius Gonzaga
