Ketawala School

In Kurunegala District there is a small village called Ketawala.It is in a rural village. When we see the environment of Ketawala village. There are only small houses to see here. But there are many beautiful places to see in Ketawala village.On those days there were only some people. But they were very poor.

In Ketawala Village there were less than 25 houses. From that also two or three houses were big houses. And also one or two families lived in a one house. As they were very poor people they had to do like that. On those days rich people had gardens and paddy-fields and also poor people work for them. Because of that some times rich people help poor people. In Ketawala village .There was a small shop. From that many people could eat hoppers and foods after getting their breakfast they went to do their poor jobs. Some times they sold coconuts. It is also a part of their jobs From that they ould get the things that they want

In that poor village there is a small school called Ku/Ketawala Kanishta Vidyalaya. But it is a light house for the children of Ketawala. Because the service which has been done by it has not been done by any one so far.

There was a small shop middle of the village. It was belonged for Mr. W.D Matin,s father. That shop was done by the person who lived in Gonagala. In that shop there was a youth person. So many children came near him. And also he began to teach some thing as he knows. After passing two or three days many children had come to learn from him. Because of that there were some benches and tables. So eight or ten children could learn in that place.

As there isn’t a school in this village people tried to start a small school. They did not have a good knowledge about this society. So they thought to give a knowledge to their children. As a result of that people were able to make a small school. For that Mr. A.A Wijekoon got the leader ship. After passing some days there was a small building. Two people had given their full effort to make this small building. Some people of this village had helped to make a school like this. So all the people who were in this village were very happy. And we can be very proud about them. After a long time a new principal came to Ketawala school. He is none other than Mr. K. Wimaladewa. After coming to Ketawala school he was able to understand that this school has not been developed.

First ,no one had known about this school. Any one had not even heard the name of this school. But after new English sir Mr. R.Wilbert Ranasinghe came to school every thing was changed. He came to this school on 15^th of March 2000.Before he came the children of this school could not write even their names correctly in English. Likewise they were not interested in learning English. They did not have even an aim. Every thing was only a dream for them. They did not have big hopes in their mind. Even to learn well.

When English sir came to school there were about 20 teachers in this school. Then all the teachers tried their best to teach the children and to develop school. In that period the principal who was in this school was Mr. K.Wimaladewa. He also did so many things for the sake of this school. The main and the best work he did for this school is getting an English teacher.

This English sir understood about the poverty of the children in this school. He made every possible effort to teach them English. Not only English, but also good habits which are needed for our lives. His guidance was a great help for us.

sir English sir started a morning class in our school on 10 th of January in 2003. On those days as the schools started at 8.00 a.m. he came to school before 7.00 o’ clock and taught us English. With the help of that the children of our school began to tell something in English. Our sir helped much for the children to improve their English knowledge.

Then for the first time we could hold an English day in our school on 30 th of October in 2003. Even the chief minister of north western province came to see our English day. Then he was very happy about talents of children in our school. So he gave a computer for our school. It was a happy day for all of us. Although we are poor people we are not poor in learning English.

Like that way our school became famous. Every one knew about our school. As a result of that many people began to come to our school. And many people who have much money helped us at so many times. Many things were donated for the children of our school like school bags, books and so many things. Children also were fond of learning English. From many ways they tried to improve their English knowledge. Not only that we could get a big library with many books because of English. Now children can get a good knowledge reading them. And we were able to get five computers. We can get a big help from them.

Our teachers also help us from many ways to teach us English. Just like our English sir they also encourage us to learn English. Our teachers are like our own parents. Always they care about us. So we are very lucky children to have the teachers like our teachers. They are the real gods.

Normally when we go on trips from our school we don’t speak in single word in sinhala and we don’t sing songs. We do so many programs to improve our knowledge. So we have a good place. But the children of other schools are not like that. They sing songs and they don’t speak in English. So than them we are in a good position to speak in English. We speak with foreigners also. So we can get a good English knowledge.

The children who sat for the o/l exam in 2007 could show 100% English result for the first time. The main reason why they could show good result is the dedication of our English sir. They were able to show good result for all the subjects. So it is a big credit for our school. Any school has not showed a result like this in this area. So we can be very proud about that.

For the second time also we could hold an English day on 14 th of march in 2008. We could bring the minister of education to our school. It also was a nice day for all of us. We believe that it will be an unforgettable day in our lives.

Now we have a new principal in our school. He is a very good person. Always he tries his best to teach us. Likewise he helps our English sir also to teach us English. He is none other than Mr. Nimal Ranasinghe. Now he is doing a great service for our school.

There are only 04 halls in our school. Although there are many children in our school we don’t have many facilities to learn well. And some places have been broken. As our fathers are farmers we don’t have much money to get even books that we want.

Although our school is a famous one it is very old now. We don’t have money to make it. If any one can help us. that will be a great thing in our lives. As we are the children of ketawala school we can be very happy about our poor school.