St. Mary's College ( Sinhala: සාන්ත මරියා විදුහල;

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

: செயிண்ட் மேரி கல்லூரி) is a multi-faith boys' school located in

Kegalle Kegalle (; ) is a large town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It is located on the Colombo–Kandy road, approximately from Colombo, from Kandy, from Kurunegala and from Avissavella. It is the main town in the Kegalle District, which i ...

Sabaragamuwa Province The Sabaragamuwa Province (, , ) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, provinces of Sri Lanka. Ratnapura is the capital of the province. History The provinces of Sri Lanka were created by the British Empire, British in the 19th century, but ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, adjacent to St. Mary's church. Established in 1867 by

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

missionaries, it was the first school in Kegalle. In 2023 it had approximately 3,000 students and 135 teaching staff. It currently offers primary and secondary education, and the college is under the management of

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

History

St. Mary's College was established on 1 March 1867, the fifth Catholic school in the country established by the

missionaries. The school was founded as a vernacular English school in 1867 by Rev. Fr. Domenico Pingulani, a Benedictine missionary, in connection with St. Mary's church. It initially had 22 students and one teacher. The

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionaries took over the running of the school in 1893. In 1902 Lucian van Langenberg was appointed the school's principal. In 1921 Rev. Fr. Berneart took over the administration of the school and by 1922 it had 110 students enrolled. In 1933 Rev. Fr. P. M. Baguet was appointed as principal. In 1947 St. Mary's College was elevated to a secondary school, with classes in English, Sinhala and Tamil. The same year the house system was re-introduced to the school, with the houses named after colours: red, blue, green and gold. In 1960 it was changed to a government school with 688 students enrolled and 36 staff. The school was elevated to a national school in 1995.

Houses

The Students are divided into four

Houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

: * – Nilwala * – Mahaweli * – Kelani * – Walawe

Notable alumni

External links

School sinhala anthem

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's College, Kegalle Schools in Kegalle Boys' schools in Sri Lanka National schools in Sri Lanka Educational institutions established in 1867 1867 establishments in Ceylon