St.Aloysius College

Infobox School
name = St. Aloysius' College, Galle

motto = _la. "Certa Veriliter" (Latin for “Strive Manfully”)
head_label = Principal
head = Mr. DPLS Gunasekara 2005
type = Started as a Private Catholic, Currently State run
affiliation = Jesuit Fathers
grades = 1–13
students = 3900
established = 1895
city = Galle
country = Sri Lanka flagicon|Sri Lanka
colors = Green and Gold color box|#008000color box|#CFB53B
website = [www.sac.ac.lk]

St. Aloysius' College, Galle, Sri Lanka

St. Aloysius' College is one of the leading boy's schools in Southern Province of Sri Lanka.It is located in Galle, the capital city of Southern Province in Sri Lanka. The college was established in 1895 by Jesuit fathers.St.Aloysius' College is a national school in Sri Lanka.It provides primary and secondary education. The school takes the pride of producing world's one of the most renowned scientists, Late [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Ponnamperuma Prof. Cyril Ponnamperuma] .

History

St. Aloysius' College is one of the prominent boys' schools in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. It is located in Galle, Capital of the Southern Province, and is situated on Mount Calvery, neighbouring St. Mary's Cathedral on one side and Sacred Heart Convent on the other. The college was established in 1895 by Jesuit fathers and was named after the Jesuit Saint, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Aloysius_Gonzaga Saint Aloysius Gonzaga] (born on 9 March 1568). Saint Aloysius' is regarded as the "Saint of Youth" by the Jesuits because of the heroic acts that he had performed when he was a young Jesuit helping Plague victims in Rome, Italy in 1587. After a few years helping plague victims, young Saint Aloysius died on 21 June 1591 at the age of 23 when he himself contracted the disease. St. Aloysius' College, Galle, is one of many schools named after Saint Aloysius, and many exist all around the world including schools in Glasgow-Scotland, Sydney-Australia, Bangalore-India, Malta, London-England etc. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Aloysius_College (See List)] .

Until the Sri Lankan government brought legislation for nationalisation of schools in the island (with an exception of only a few schools), St. Aloysius' College was run by Jesuit Fathers and the medium of instruction was English. The first Buddhist Principal was appointed in the year 1971 and subsequently the medium of instruction was changed to Sinhala.

College Today

The college today provides education to 3900 students from grade 1 to grade 13 and it is regarded as one of the leading boys' schools in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. The students of the school fall into diverse religious groups where over 90 percent of students are from a Buddhist background and the rest from Catholic/Christian and Islamic backgrounds. The school has earned its reputation in the areas of academic excellence as well as in sports.

College Anthem

Aloysians all our voice let's raise
In songs of loyalty
Let's sing our Alma Mater's praise
Here's to our S.A.C.
Aloysians all, let's rally round
Aloysians young and old,
Let's cheer till loud our halls resound,
Our flag of green and gold.
Chorus
Pure as the lilies of our crest,
Our thoughts and deeds e'er be
Fresh as the sea wind be our zest
To keep right manfully,

The rule of S.A.C.
We learnt at S.A.C.
At halls of S.A.C.
Beside the southern sea

Aloysians all let's young and old
E'er loyal be to her
And 'neath our banner Green and Gold
Cer-ta Ve-ri-liter..!

Words by : Miss D. Anghie
Music by : Strom Sidicinu S.J.

College Houses

Students represent five houses that are named after Jesuit Fathers who were pioneers in developing the school in its early days.

* Coorman Colour: Yellow
* Vanreeth Colour: Blue
* Neut Colour: Green
* Murphy Colour: Red
* Standard Colour: Purple

Sports

College provides a major emphasis on Sports with over 21 different sports played. Those include;

* Athletics
* Badminton
* Baseball
* Basketball
* Boxingcol-3
* Chess
* Cricket
* Gymnastics
* Field Hockey
* Rugby Football
* Soccer
* Swimming/Diving
* Table Tennis
* Tennis
* Volleyball

Battle of Two Cities

The annual cricket encounter is played between St Aloysius' College, Galle and Rahula College, Matara and it's often referred to as the battle of the two cities. St. Aloysius College, Galle registered an innings and 33 run victory over Rahula College, Matara in their 5th annual ‘Big’ match which ended at the Galle International Stadium. Ending a four-year drought for a win from either side. Resuming on day two with the overnight score of 113 for 5, St. Aloysius declared after reaching 160 for 8 with a lead of 104 runs after bowling out Rahula Collage, Matara for a meek 56 runs on the first day.

Principals

Old Boys' Associations (OBA's)

There are a few branches of OBA's located all around the world.
* Old Boys' Association - Galle - Parent Body
* Old Boys' Association - Colombo Branch
* Old Boys' Association - Melbourne
* Old Boys' Association - London
* Old Boys' Association - New Zealand

Notable Aloysians

*Prof Cyril Ponnamperuma - Evolutionary Chemist
*Dr Marlene Abeyewardena - Gynaecologist
*Dr D V J Harishchandra - Psychiatrist
*Dr E M R de Saram - Psychiatrist
*Mr N U Jayawardene - Economist
*Dr Michael Roberts - Rhodes Scholar
*Dr Bertram Dias - Specialist Paediatrician
*Lt General Shantha Kottegoda
*Mr Gaya de Silva - Deputy Inspector General
*Dr Gihan Wickramanayake - University of Colombo School of Computing
*Prof Granville Dharmawardena, University of Colombo
*Prof Ediriweera Sarathchandra
*Prof Mrs Jasmine Nanayakkara - Specialist Paediatrician
*Dr D P Athukorala - Heart Specialist
*Mr M S Amarasiri - Former Chief Minister Uva Province
*Dr S Kasthuri-Consultant Paediatric Surgeon
*Prof M R Mohideen-Professor of Medicine,Faculty of Medicine,University of Ruhuna
*Justice A C Alles
*Mr R I T Alles - Prominent Educationist

News

*Jesuit Day on Wednesday 5th November 2008 organised by OBA Galle
*Annual Dinner Dance: South of the Border organised by OBA Colombo on 29th Nov '08 at Hotel Galadari, Colombo, Sri Lanka
*OBA Colombo AGM at Hotel Sapphire, Wellawatta on 5th Oct 2008

External links

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloysius_Gonzaga/ More about Saint Aloysius]