History

Kalutara Vidyalaya (Sinhala: කළුතර විද්‍යාලය) is a Buddhist boys’ school in Kalutara, Sri Lanka. The college was founded in 1941 by Sir Cyril de Zoysa. It is a national school providing primary and secondary education. 

In order to provide education to the Buddhist children of Kalutara district, the Kalutara Buddhist Society, led by Sir Cyril de Zoysa, tried to start a Buddhist school in Kalutara.

As a result, Kalutara Vidyalaya was officially established on 13 January 1941, with 56 students and eleven teachers at the Martin Bungalow in Nagoda, Kalutara.

In the beginning, the college was led by P. De S. Kularatne (principal of Ananda College), J. N. Jenendradasa (principal of Nalanda College), and E. W. Adikaram (principal of Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte). Later, D. D. P. Samaraweera became the first principal of the college.

The original motto of the college was “Uthsaha wanthan jananan kin nasadhiyanthi” but later it was changed to “De Samaya Surakinu.” The school song of the college was composed by Anangalal Athukorala.

After only six months, the college became a senior secondary school. At the beginning, Kalutara Vidyalaya at the Martin Bungalow was a mixed school. On 7 January 1942, Kalutara Balika Vidyalaya was established in Clammily House by P. de S. Kularatne as the girls’ school.

So Kalutara Vidyalaya became a boys’ school.

The first chapter of Kalutara Vidyalaya ended on 18 March 1942, when the Royal Air Force took the school for their use during World War II.

After a short break, Kalutara Vidyalaya recommenced at Kalutara Balika Vidyalaya. Sir Cyril de Zoysa noticed that it was hard to develop two schools and handed over his Brookline House to the Kalutara Balika Vidyalaya.

In April 1946, the college began offering free education and was handed over to the government. In 1998, the college became a national school.

Today the school has about 3,500 students and more than 120 teachers.