Mr. H.L. Wimalasuriya, my principal at Telijjawila Central

By a grateful student

Mr.H.L Wimalasuriya about whom his son, Gamini, wrote in The Sunday Island recently was my principal at the Central School in Telijjawila. In fact he was the first principal of the school who inaugurated it in 1946. He was handpicked to be the principal by the father of free education in Ceylon, Dr.C.W.W,Kannangara, the then Minister of Education in the State Council.

Mr.Wimalasuriya was not only the first principal of Telijjawila Central. He was responsible for placing the school on a firm foundation.The new school was built on the road from Weligama to Akuressa and Matara and was equidistant from all these Southern towns. It wa so located to cater to students from a very wide area. They came from, Aturaliya, Kamburupitiya, Hallala Ahangama, Mirissa, Godagama, Kadduwa, Godapitiya, Kananke, Maliduwa and the villages near them. The total number of students on the roll at the beginning would have been about 200.

The school lacked even the most basic facilities. There wasn’t even a school bell. One was improvised by hanging an old mamoty blade by a coir rope and this was struck by an iron rod to announce the beginning and end of the school periods.Mr.D.A. de Silva who was among the first group of teachers at Telijjawila Central, reminiscing about his time there to an issue of the school magazine remembered: “To a raw product like me, born and bred in an urban environment it was a strange experience, almost an adventure.”

He continued “Here was a typical wayside village school. There was one permanent half-walled building, tiled and cemented. Two other halls with cadjan roofs, supported by wooden pillars served as classrooms. The classrooms were not separated by walls or screens. Only a few teachers could teach English as a subject. All the students had studied in the Sinhala medium.

“But Mr.Wimalasuriya separated classrooms with a two-foot gap between each other. Discipline was of a high order, so there was no problem from adjoining classes. Playgrounds, libraries, laboratories, and swimming pools were unheard of in those far off days. But they were happy times nevertheless.”

At the beginning there were only eight teachers for the entire school. Of them only two or three could teach English as a subject. That was a difficult task as all students had previously studied only in the Sinhala medium and knew no English whatever. But Mr.Wimalasuriya made it possible for every student to have a foundation in English. He himself taught a number of English lessons despite his busy schedule.

The first lesson the students were taught was to say was, “Sir, please may I go out” (meaning to the latrine). There were two of them, one for the girls and one for boys. The second lesson was, ” please may I go out to drink some water.” As students advanced in picking up English words, he devoted a few minutes of the lesson to correct English pronunciation and spelling. He encouraged the use of an English dictionary. As there were no English supplementary books available particularly for beginners, Mr.Wimalasuriya wrote stories like Kisagotami in his own handwriting and passed them around. He encouraged students to speak in English and not bother about making mistakes.

Every Friday evening, he wanted the hostelers to come to his house to listen to the then popular Siri Ayya’s children’s program on the radio. One Friday, we asked him, “Sir, shall we come to hear Friday’s program.” Mr.Wimalasuriya had to correct us to say ‘to listen’ and ‘not hear.’ .Another day one bright student after finishing his English exercise announced, “Sir, I am finished.” Mr. Wimalasuriya with his hands on his head said, “my boy I am finished means I am kapotiyi . You should have said “I have finished. “

In addition to English, he taught mathematics. Several students took time to grasp that naught multiplied by any number remained naught. As a last resort it was only when he said “onama kehelmalak binduven wadikaloth binduwamai.” That taught the students the concept for all time.Mr Wimalsuriya took steps to provide scholarship holders selected on the results of the fifth standard test with hostel facilities. Initially there were 20 boys and about the same number of girls. Each hosteller was provided 12 rupees per month by the government for food. It was later increased to Rs. 20.

One day he visited the boy’s hostel in the wee hours of the morning, put up the inmates and led them to an open- space. The students were flabbergasted by this done to give them a lesson on stars. They were shown the Orion, Seven Sisters, Jupiter etc. It was not a subject on the school curriculum. It was only a lesson to widen the outlook of the boys.

Most of the students had not been out of their villages except to Telijjawila. To them Colombo was only a name. For the benefit of the hostelers he arranged a tour to Colombo in two buses. Several lessons on the historical, geographical and political importance on the capital were taught one week prior to the trip to brief the students on the places they were to visit. Among them was the harbor, House of Representatives, Kelaniya temple etc. Three teachers including the principal accompanied them. He also arranged for the group to meet the Minister who addressed them.

Mr .Wimalasuriya was a man of many parts. He could play the violin and organized several concerts with students. He was a strict disciplinarian. He never caned a student immediately after an offence. When he wanted to punish a student, he would do so only after he had cooled down. Once he got two male teachers who had a brawl in the school to apologize to each other in the presence of students at the school assembly.

Mr Wimalasuriya spent only two years at Teliijawila . But the foundation he laid stands strong even after 75 years. In conclusion I must add that I could write this article in English thanks to the initial grounding imparted and the interest in English created in me by Mr. Wimalasuriya, my teacher, my principal.

(The writer of this article sat for the entrance examination for Telijjawila Central in 1946 with the index number 194)