St. Mary's College, Kegalle


St. Mary's College is the oldest boys' school in Kegalle, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka.

History

St. Mary's College was established on 1 March 1867, the fifth Catholic school in the country established by the Benedictine 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 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. In 2015 it had 3,600 students with 164 staff.

Notable Alumni