The school once known as the Japalawatta branch of the Minuwangoda Nalanda Boys’ Central College is known today as the Minuwangoda President’s College. It opened its doors on February 9, 1979 with 225 students and six teachers. It currently educates 2,465 students and pays great attention to their education. The land for the school was allocated by former MP Bennet Gunasekera at the time with the aim of providing a fully equipped school to Minuwangoda, similar to the schools in Colombo. The school was established as a mixed school and in 1983 its students sat for the GCE Ordinary Level exam for the very first time.
Its founding Principal was R.L.P.P Rajapakshe while the current Principal is A.Wipulasena. Students are admitted to this school, which consists of 82 teachers and eight non-academic staff, through the Grade Five scholarship examination. The school has won many victories in the past years becoming a school with great performance in the district including at the Ordinary Level examination. In fact, the school has had a 100 percent pass level on the examination in the past few years.
 School principal A. Wipulasena |
At the last Ordinary Level exam of 2022, all 179 students who sat for it qualified to enter the Advanced Level classes. Moreover, this achievement was also a reason for becoming the school that showed the best results among the schools operating under the Western Provincial Education Department. In 2020, the Minuwangoda President’s College was placed 11th among the schools with the best O’Level results (even amid Covid) while it was placed 7th in 2019.
Despite the Covid 19 pandemic, the school has been able to shine academically. Among the students who sat for the exam in 2022, 34 got 9 As, 36 got 8 As and 21 got 7 As. Regarding the A passes obtained in each subject, 148 for Mathematics, 111 for Science, 152 for Buddhism, 127 for Sinhala, 98 for History and 94 for English got A passes. Also, 54 out of 59 students who appeared for the IT subject got an A pass.
The school had taken great pains to educate the children during the Covid pandemic. Lessons were conducted through an online school while classes, the library and even labs were converted to suit this mode of teaching to be carried out if necessary for the next several years. A website was also created for the purpose of allowing students to access vital educational material through it. With the theme ‘Let’s defeat Covid’ classes were held from 7.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. A separate class was held to conduct the online morning assembly for students. Microsoft Teams were used to allow over 3,000 students to join the classes while special classes were held after 1.30 p.m. for students sitting for exams.
Extracurricular activities such as student bodies, drama and others were also conducted online. Prizes were also presented to students engaging in such activities to encourage them further. At the end of the pandemic, teachers also dedicated themselves to completing missed lessons and holding special programs to support students who were struggling with certain subjects.
Special student camps were also held for English and other subjects where they were taught lessons using fun methods to improve their knowledge. Each student was given a target. For example, students in Grades 6-9 were given the task of obtaining 1,000 marks in their term exams while Grade 10 - 11 students were given the target of 700. Those who achieved this were recognised and presented with valuable prizes.
No student of the school failed the 2022 Ordinary Level exam. These achievements were obtained even while students took part in other activities such as sports. The school has 15 sports and 25 student associations. They have shone in athletics and karate, while the school also won a productivity award from the National Productivity Secretariat in 2022.
The school has won many other awards as well including in scouting, and essay writing among many others. All these activities are supported by Assistant Principal M.P.S Chitrananda and Sports Coach E.M.L Madhushanka. The Past Pupils’ Association (PPA) has also rendered a great service to the school to develop its infrastructure. Among others supporting the school is former Principal P.T.P. Fernando.
The school has several aims it hopes to achieve in the coming years including the further development of its infrastructure and much-needed renovations to buildings which could support it in obtaining more achievements and accolades in the future. The school retains its online infrastructure so that it can be used again if the need arises. It is the school that most parents in Minuwangoda and surrounding areas want to send their children to. In fact, with the reputation earned by the school, most students in the area no longer wish to enroll in a Colombo school for Grade 6. Their first choice is President’s College, Minuwangoda.
Minuwangoda President’s College.
The teachers behind the school’s success.
School administration.
At morning assembly.
Students in extracurricular activities.
Home Science class
Students engaged in a science experiment.