From its inception Dharmaraja College was a trend setter in education in the country. At a time when educational opportunities for Sinhala and Buddhist students were limited, Dharmaraja was established by a group of pioneering educationists and philanthropists to fulfil the needs of this community. Emerging at the height of the 19th century Buddhist revival in Sri Lanka Dharmaraja was established on the 30th of June 1887 as the Kandy Buddhist High School with 12 students under the auspices of the Kandy Theosophical Society.
To clear the land for the new school, Wadugodapitiya Punchirala Korale; the Kapu Mahatthaya of Natha Devalaya cut down a Bo tree overnight. This subversive act lost him his government posts and privileges and his lands were confiscated. Cutting down a sacred Bo tree to start a Buddhist school may seem paradoxical, but it was an indication of the unconventional path chosen by the pioneers who began this school – a spirit that still guides the school as it faces new challenges in the twenty first century.
In the 1940s the then Principal Mr. Mettananda identified a new threat. Sinhala Buddhist students from underprivileged backgrounds were being converted to Christianity through the offer of better educational opportunities in missionary schools. Since Buddhist schools such as Ananda and Dharmaraja only catered to upper and middle-class students who could afford relatively high school fees, Sinhala Buddhists from underprivileged backgrounds were attracted to missionary schools. In order to cater to this student group, the Elementary Department was inaugurated in 1940. 2

From their inception Buddhist schools operated as private schools under the Theosophical Society. Only limited financial support was provided by the government. Mr Mettananda initiated the struggle to recognize Dharmaraja as a state school and thereby ensure state financial patronage and long-term stability for the school. Within this challenging context the Kandy Educational Front was formed in 1957. The Educational Front began public lobbying for the government takeover of Dharmaraja. However, the Buddhist Theosophical Society also resisted this move and attempted to retain its control over the school. Mr. Tevarapperuma the then Principal of Dharmaraja led a long and sustained battle against this decision and presented the case to the Senior Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Education Dr. Ananda Guruge (a distinguished old boy). Ultimately, Dharmaraja and also Ananda College were declared government schools on 1st December 1960. The story of Dharmaraja, therefore, is one of struggle and achievement that was moulded by a group of committed educationists who had the courage to think and act in unconventional ways to meet the challenges of their time. Today’s challenge remains the same – to think creatively and out-of-the-box to position the school competitively in a rapidly changing social and educational context.

The historical role of Dharmaraja has been unorthodox and the school has played a decisive role at difficult and crucial junctures in the history of the Sri Lankan education system. It is the opinion of the Rajans Professional Collective that Dharmaraja and the Sri Lankan education system as a whole is currently facing another crisis. Therefore, unless we intervene now, Dharmaraja would become just another school and lose its position as a thought and change leader.
With the increasing politicisation and commodification of the education system, the erosion of the values in society in general and ignorance of norms, the Rajans community has keenly felt the need for a Master Plan for Dharmaraja College. This need has been discussed for the last 20 years but no pragmatic initiative was launched despite one or two false starts.
The need for a master plan was highlighted during the last few years due to a number of factors. Cuts in state financial allocations, red-tape and bureaucratic barriers for carrying out development activities and unplanned changes to staff, all indicated the need for a master plan to streamline and strategize the school’s activities.
Within this context the Rajans Professional Collective began an organized dialogue to develop a Master Plan for the College in 2016 with the objective of first identifying the key challenges facing the school and then to provide long term solutions for identified issues, and finally, to prepare Dharmaraja to face the new cultural and technological 3

changes in the country and to position the school as a leader for the next century. The significant support provided by the Principal and the staff and also the President of the OBU and his team in the Old Boys’ Union was instrumental in developing this Master Plan. We believe that with the support of the Principal, academic staff and the OBU this Master Plan will provide the road map to maintain Dharmaraja College as one of the leading education providers in the country and to take the college to even greater heights than what it has achieved in the past. 4