Priyan Dias, Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Moratuwa, presents a detailed assessment of THOMIA from an Old Boy’s point of view….. presentedin FACEBOOK, 9 January 2026 by Sandagomi Coperahewa
“By the time Reginald De Saram became warden, the school needed a “defender” against populist sentiment. With nationalist feeling running high, there were many who felt that British-public-school-style education, as offered at institutions like S. Thomas’, had at least outlived its time – if it was not actually inhibiting the establishment of a more ‘grassroots’ educational system for the country. Much of Volume II (covering the years 1948-2001) is devoted to this fascinating tension, which was heightened by feelings engendered by Ceylon’s independence from British rule. De Saram is portrayed as fulfilling his ‘defender’ role admirably, in some cases even ‘going on the offensive’ (to remain with the metaphor) and stealing a march on other nationalists. In particular, he responded to the official decree that ‘vernacular’ education be made compulsory at all schools by recruiting an enviable staff of Sinhala teachers from the activist “Hela havula” movement (which sought to ‘purify’ the Sinhala language), which thus found a home at the college. The son of one of the Hela teachers is today Professor of Sinhala at the University of Colombo, having studied at S. Thomas’ himself before gaining his doctorate from Cambridge University.
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