Rathnavali Balika Vidyalaya, Gampaha Explained

Rathnavali Balika Vidyalaya Gampaha
Motto:"කරෝථ බුද්ධසාසනං"
Motto Translation:Behave according to Buddhism
Enrollment:3,950
Principal:H. A. H. Jayawardana
Grades:Class 6 - 13
Gender:Girls
Age Range:11 to 19
Colors:Green and gold
Alumni:Old Rathnavalians

Rathnavali Balika Vidyalaya (Sinhala: රත්නාවලී බාලිකා විද්‍යාලය), is a government Buddhist national school for girls in Gampaha, Sri Lanka. Students are admitted to grade six on the basis of results of the national Scholarship Examination.

History

There was a significant Buddhist reawakening with the arrival of Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. Buddhist schools were established throughout the country to promote Buddhist education across with the prevailing missionary system. In 1881 there was a Buddhist reawakening as a result of the start of the newspapers Sarasavi Sandaresa in 1880 and The Buddhist in 1881. After that, the expansion of school education came under the Buddhist Theosophical Society. Karunarathna laid the foundation stone for the school on 26 July 1945. After completing the construction work of the buildings of Rathnavali Balika Vidyalaya, D. D. Karunaratne handed over the school to the Buddhist Theosophical Society.

Rathnavali Balika Vidyalaya was opened on 17 December 1947 with 60 students, a staff consist of two teachers under the management of Mrs. Denagama who was the first principal of Rathnavali Balika Vidyalaya. On the same day, both primary and secondary education were started as the constructions of the two buildings were completed.

Houses

There are four houses in Rathnavali Balika Vidyalaya which are named after four ancient reputable feminine characters in Sri Lankan history.