Anuradhapura Central College ( si, මධ්‍ය විද්‍යාලය, අනුරාධපුර, ta, மத்திய கல்லூரி, அனுராதபுரம்) is a mixed educational establishment in

North Central Province, Sri Lanka North Central Province ( si, උතුරු මැද පළාත ''Uturumæda Paḷāta'', ta, வட மத்திய மாகாணம் ''Wada Maththiya Mākāṇam'') is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administ ...

. Anuradhapura Central College is a national school, which provides secondary education.

History

Anuradhapura Central College, which is considered as the heart of

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

, is situated in Anuradhapura, the capital city of

. It was established on 21 July 1947 under the initiative of R. L. N. de Zoyza in Rathmale area where the Rathmale Tissa Vidyalaya is situated today. It was established to provide

free education Free education is education funded through government spending or charitable organizations rather than tuition funding. Many models of free higher education have been proposed. Primary school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is fr ...

by the Minister of Education, Dr. C. W. W. Kannangara. It was the second Central College established in the North Central Province and one of the first 54 Central Colleges in the country. De Zoysa was the first principal and there were only seven teachers and twenty students in the school. The school was later moved to its present location. In 1993 the school was promoted to a National School under the leadership of the then principal E. R. Erathna. In 2014, H. M. Abeykoon was appointed as the principal of the college, with a staff of 190 teachers and 4,800 students.Present principal of Anuradhapura Central College is Mr. J.M.P.M. Jayasundara.

School traditions

The College motto is "Asamu Daramu Haesirmu", meaning "Harken Memorise Act" in Sinhala. Its nickname is "Emeralds"

School Anthem

''Namadimu baethi gee kusum puda'' is the

school song A school song, alma mater, school hymn or school anthem is the patronal song of a school. In England, this tradition is particularly strong in public schools and grammar schools. Australia *The Glennie School – ''Now Thank We All Our God'' ...

, which is sung at the start of the school day and on important occasions.

Houses

The students are divided in to four houses, which are named after four great

arahant In Buddhism, an ''arhat'' (Sanskrit: अर्हत्) or ''arahant'' (Pali: अरहन्त्, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana'' and liberated ...

thero ''Thero'' (commonly appearing in the masculine and feminine forms ''thera'' and ''therī'' respectively) is an honorific term in Pali for senior bhikkhus and bhikkhunis (Buddhist monks and nuns) in the Buddhist monastic order. The word literally ...

s. An annual track-and-field tournament among these houses is held during the first term of the academic year. * ''Ananda '' * ''Mahinda '' * ''Seewali '' * ''Rahula''

Notable alumni

Anuradhapura Central College has produced graduates in many fields such as engineering, medicine, law, politics, education, administration, mass-media and entertainment, including: * Duminda Dissanayake – Cabinet Minister of Education Services, former Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs and Skills Development *

Nanda Mallawaarachchi Major General Nanda Mallawaarachchi RWP, VSV, USP, ndc, psc, Msc (Defense) is the Current Secretary of Sports in Sri Lanka. He was the former Secretary of Law & Order in Sri Lanka. He was also the former Acting Commander & Chief of Staff of th ...

– Acting Commander of the Army, Former Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Indonesia * Ran Banda Seneviratne – A lawyer, author, lyricist, television and radio presenter. *

Sirimevan Ranasinghe Admiral Sirimevan Sarathchandra Ranasinghe, WWV, RWP, USP is a retired Sri Lankan admiral and the former Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy. Early life and education Ranasinghe received his education from St. Joseph's College, Anuradhapura an ...

- Chief of Staff,

Sri Lanka Navy ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை , image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy , dates = , c ...

Shirani Bandaranayake Upatissa Atapattu Bandaranayake Wasala Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Shirani Anshumala Bandaranayake (known as Shirani Bandaranayake; born April 1958) served as the 43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka. Although a qualified lawyer, she has never practiced la ...

, 43rd

Chief Justice of Sri Lanka The Chief Justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head of the judiciary of Sri Lanka and the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Established in 1801, the Chief Justice is one of ten Supreme Court justices; the other nine are t ...

Simon Navagattegama Simon Navagattegama lso spelled Nawagattegama (September 15, 1940 – October 9, 2005) was a Sinhala novelist, Sinhala Radio Play writer, playwright and actor. He is well known for his novel Sansararanye Dhadayakkaraya (Hunter in the wilder ...

– a Sinhala novelist, Sinhala Radio Play writer, playwright and actor.

References

External links and sources

* {{Official website, http://www.anu-central.sch.lk/
Emeralds Club – The young past pupil association of Anuradhapura central college

Anuradhapura Sacred City
1947 establishments in Ceylon National schools in Sri Lanka Schools in Anuradhapura