Deshabandu Wimala de Silva (2 June 1920 – 15 April 2007) was a prominent Sri Lankan educationist and social activist. She was a former chancellor of the
University of Sri Jayawardenepura
''Vijja Uppattam Setta''
, mottoeng = Among all that arise, knowledge is the greatest
, established =
, undergrad = 14,750
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and founding principal of
Devi Balika Vidyalaya, which is now regarded as one of the leading national schools in Sri Lanka. During her lifetime, she was widely known for her research and efforts on raising issues and concerns regarding the gender inequality in Sri Lanka.
Career
She graduated from the
University of Ceylon
The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univer ...
in 1942 at the age of 22 and won scholarship for postgraduate studies at the
Institute of Education in London. In the same institute, she obtained her Teacher's Diploma in 1949.
Wimala founded the Devi Balika Vidyalaya at the age of 32 in 1953 and served as the head principal of the school for over ten years. She initiated it as a government collegiate school, which was the first school to be introduced in Sri Lanka as a government collegiate school. During her tenure as the founding principal of Devi Balika Vidyalaya, the school became one of the important leading education institutes in the country. She also notably worked with prominent human rights activist
Jezima Ismail
Deshabandu Jezima Ismail (born 1935) is a Sri Lankan educator, broadcaster and social activist who has also served as an advocate for human rights. She has held several higher positions in fields such as education, human rights and broadcasting. ...
who also served as a teacher at the Devi Balika Vidyalaya.
She also served as President of the Sri Lanka Federation of University Women on three different time periods. In 1980, she became the first Sri Lankan to be elected to the Council of the
International Federation of University Women Graduate Women International (GWI), originally named the International Federation of University Women (IFUW), is an international organisation for women university graduates. IFUW was founded in 1919 following the First World War by both British and ...
. She was appointed as the chancellor of University of Sri Jayawardenapura in 1983 and became Sri Lanka's first female university chancellor. She took charge as university chancellor in 1984 and served in the position until 1989.
She was honoured with the national prestigious title of
Deshabandu by the
Government of Sri Lanka
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) ( si, ශ්රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a parliamentary system determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the is ...
in 1986 for her key services and contributions to the development of national education. In 1998, she also received Zonta Award from the
Zonta International.
References
1920 births
2007 deaths
Sri Lankan educators
Sri Lankan teachers
Sri Lankan women activists
Sri Lankan women academics
Sri Lankan feminists
People of British Ceylon
Sri Lankan expatriates in the United Kingdom
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