Gampaha Bandaranaike College is one of the country’s most important and well-known Buddhist boys’ schools, offering secondary education.
 Awards won by exam toppers
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Gampaha Bandaranaike College was founded in 1918 by Charles Samarasuriya, and the current principal is U. Darshan Iran Champika de Silva, the 26th principal of the school. Among the previous principals, the eras of Labutale Sudassana Thera and Lal Dissanayake were the school’s revolutionary eras.
5,700 students are currently enrolled in all facilities, with 225 teaching staff, 45 development assistant appointments, and 65 non-academic staff. The school has 60 smart classrooms full of technology that are used to familiarise students with modern technology. 45 of these smart classrooms are designated for students at the Ordinary Level. Lecture halls, labs, auditoriums, computer labs, swimming pools, and indoor stadiums are valuable resources reserved for the students of Bandaranaike College.
The students achieve excellent results every year in G.C.E. ordinary level as well as advanced level examinations. Not only did this school achieve district and national recognition, but it also had 100 percent pass rates in Ordinary Level exams in previous years. According to the data of the Examinations Department, they were able to be the number one boys’ school in the island among the schools that get excellent results in the Ordinary Level Examination on several occasions.
In 2006, Gampaha Bandaranaike Vidyalaya succeeded in becoming the best school in the Gampaha district among the boys’ schools in Sri Lanka. The results of the 2022 General Examination were released recently, once again renewing their excellent performance. Recently, Gampaha Bandaranaike Vidyalaya achieved 100 percent victory in the ordinary level examination results, giving all students the mandate to study advanced level. The school’s students had the best results on the island, with 167 nines, 102 eights, and 59 sevens.
Presenting the students to the national exams, this year’s general level exam was a tough challenge for all the schools in Sri Lanka due to the closure of the country due to the prevailing conflict situation and transportation difficulties. But even before the arrival of Covid, Gampaha Bandaranaike Vidyalaya was using modern technology. The school had already trained its teachers to use the new technology.
 Principal U. Dharshan Champika De Silva
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Because of this, when the country was in lockdown, the heavy responsibility of conducting education activities from home through modern technology for the children of their school was not a challenge for them.
Due to the digital transformation of the school since the lockdown, teachers have been able to provide online education using the same school time on a specific schedule without leaving the students stranded. Physical classroom knowledge was also imparted to the students appearing for the O/L classes in this way, and the school was able to conduct all examinations and assessments online. Contributions were made for this through Microsoft and Alumni Associations, and every student was given a Microsoft Team license because of the hosting services provided by various people for the school.
Grades 6-11 Deputy Principal Priyantha Wijegunaratne says that after the country was opened up after the Covid restrictions, O/L students were given quick revision programs for three months. Moreover, it was possible to conduct practical workshops one or two days a week by identifying the essential and difficult learning parts of the main subjects, such as science and mathematics.
Educational programs
The educational programs adopted by the school to feed students with additional knowledge using advanced-level students as well as regular-level teachers were successful. The school implemented special programs to improve the results of students who are weak in the classroom, including students with special needs, and no student was left behind in this journey.
Another service carried out at the same time was the meditation program to improve the mental health of students who were away from school due to Covid and improve their mental health as required for the examination. Not only through meditation programs but also through various entertainment programs and lectures, the students were prepared to take the exam by following the Covid health protection procedures.
The management board, led by the principal, was able to come together and make some work arrangements to alleviate the financial difficulties of the students facing the examination too. During this time, the school was able to provide online counselling services to every child as well as online parent meetings to evaluate the progress of students appearing for the exam.
After the Covid challenge period, the school was able to conduct the missed school work online for those students, even though their attendance was reduced for reasonable reasons during the transportation difficulties.
Since the year 2000, the opportunity to study in English has been made available. The students who passed the O/Ls as well as the students who got A passes also excelled in various extracurricular sports as well as co-curricular associations.
Accomplishments
The school has 14 extracurricular sports and 40 co-curricular associations. This time, students who excelled in their O/Ls documented their accomplishments by presenting school sports and society company achievements in the midst of Covid challenges. During the pandemic, all practical training has been done online.
It is notable that these students participated in the semi-final round of the Sri Lanka School Cricket Association’s one-day tournament. The Under-17 Badminton Championship was won in 2022, and this time, 11 students from the O/Ls competed for it. In the 4th International Championship held in India last year, the school was able to win a gold medal in the black belt Kumte event and a silver medal in the Katha event. The student named Julen Liyanage, who appeared for that, has been able to get 8 As in the O/L Examination.
The children who sat the O/Ls this year also achieved success in the innovation section. Moreover, in the Best Web.lk 2022 competition, the students were able to bag the Best Web Award after competing with more popular schools and universities, showcasing that the Gampaha Bandaranaike College students are successful not only in the learning and teaching process but also in other abilities.
The second place in the boys’ Hindi song competition and the certificate for the song with the best academic section was also won by the students who sat the O/L examination this year. The students who sat for the examination this time were a perfect group of children in terms of aesthetic abilities. The school’s historical achievements include second place in Sri Lanka in the senior men’s Yak Anuma Competition, 2022 Ipson Theatre Design, with the best background design and acting skills, and producing excellent students for society.
Gampaha Bandaranaike Vidyalaya is the only school that has set up the background to worship Trivida Chaityas, with a branch of Anuradhapura Sri Maha Bodhi installed inside the school and regularly worshipped by teachers and students. The school setting brings pure pleasure to the minds of the children. In this work, the principal, U. Darshan Iran Champika de Silva, is led by Deputy Principal (Educational Development) Udeshika Kariyawasam, Deputy Principal Kusuman Ranasinghe, Deputy Principal Champika Gunathilake, Deputy Principal Priyantha Wijegunaratne, 6-11 Section Head Ajith Kulatunga, Grade 11 Principal Rangana Vannakuarachchi, and Deputy Grade Head Gayani Deepika. This group of teachers and as well as the students’ parents have shown unlimited sacrifice. The Gampaha Bandaranaike college is also preparing for another group of children to enter the path of victory.
