AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL RAISED FROM A “serpent infested shrub jungle covered, gory marshland”

By Jai Sunthush Abeyewardene

The sight was simply staggering and I just couldn’t believe my eyes? Was it some kind of hallucination or was it real. I pondered for a while… the serpent infested immense landscape literarily covered with shrub jungle in a gory marshland then, had simply vanished and it wasn’t there anymore…!

In its place stood a vast building complex surrounded by lush greenery as far as my eyes could roam. The building I thought belonged to a hallowed seat of learning but then coming out of from our newspaper office van with our photographer, I saw the school in its real sense.

St. Thomas Catholic International College in its majestic aura stood tall right before me, awed by the surrounds complete with a stadium and an international level cricket ground; tennis, rugger and football courts; swimming pools and many other extracurricular and recreational activities, I just couldn’t move awhile from where I stood. But regaining my senses, I walked through the stately corridors with my colleagues from Lake House to meet the principal of the school.

We were ushered into the office by a young teacher and to my utter disbelief we weren’t greeted by a scholarly looking aged governor but by a down-to-earth, unassuming, benign, genial but a young and a tough school administrator. Rev. Father Kennedy Perera, Rector of St. Thomas Catholic International College, beckoned us to make ourselves comfortable. Looking at him keenly, I thought it’s time to start my usual question and answer session. But before I could ask, he spoke. Now let us hear his story.

Q. How did you form part of this inspiring story meaning the unique school, a kind of living and breathing miracle?

A. Well when I was tasked to make a dream turn real by His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo in 2009, the first thing my sight caught was a miserable and a gloomy picture, when I first visited the land here at Liyanagemulla in Seeduwa. The desolate land had only a solitary building and the rest of the area was a swamp.

God works in mysterious ways and this challenge I felt could be a way he wanted to test the strength of my faith in him so I prayed to my patron, friend and guide to help me carry on the Honorius task to the end, steadfastly.

The college had humble beginnings and the foundation stone for the first stage of the building was laid on October 7th 2008. The visionary participation of His Grace Arch Bishop Oswald Gomis ensured its initial growth but alas the progress was short lived.

Its resurgence in 2009 was however ensured with the direct involvement of His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith Arch Bishop of Colombo when he appointed me as the pioneering Rector and Principle on 1st August 2009.

Yet I had a tremendous task of gigantic proportions up my shoulders because the entire extent of 9 acres of soggy marshy land had to be at first made a habitable land and then it was a case of making it proper to make way for structures to house the “miracle school”.

Even with the support of The Archdiocese of Colombo, there were initial financial constraints preventing the overall launching of the project. I had many sleepless nights, followed by ear splitting headaches, just thinking how I could collect funds for the project. 

Soon I decided to go begging for God and armed only with faith in God, I took to the streets. knocking on each and every door I came across from dawn to dusk. I didn’t feel exhausted and weary for I was after a cherished goal – “to make education in English available for children deprived of this opportunity and to make it within their parent’s means.”

I can remember I used to say “give me ten rupees with your blessings than giving thousand rupees with a curse and nothing is compulsory here because I know you too have your fair share of problems,” Finally my untiring efforts and merciless suffering paid off amply, when my exhaustion outreached religious boundaries. I appealed to the Buddhists in the area to perform Bodhi Pooja for the success of the endeavour.

During the initial stages of construction, I used to meet and work with the contractors almost daily and was anxious to find out problems faced by them because I was keen on helping them and be helped in return thus generating better results because this relationship was mutual and reciprocal. This novel approach ensured continuity of work effortlessly and eliminated bottlenecks without much hassle.

Eventually success pouring in was akin to a wonder, something purely beyond imagination. Every three months I could witness a building coming up. It ultimately became a fully fledged education complex with landscape and greenery that would befit the academic environment.

Q. What are your views about your schools progress?

A. Today the college complex with its auditorium, chapel, thirty six fully equipped and state of the art classrooms, computer and other subject specific laboratories, a spacious green carpeted playground, a basketball court and a standard swimming pool could be considered an epitome of commitment, perseverance, integrity, sincerity to purpose and above all a symbol of spiritual leadership guiding the destiny of the hallowed seat of learning and its students.

The first intake for the school was on the 18th of January 2010 with one hundred and fifty students and by the time it became 2015 we had 600 students and a 40 member staff.

Q. According to your point of view, what’s unique about STIC compared to other schools?

 A. The Cambridge syllabus of STIC prepares children for London examinations and they are taught in the English medium. Teacher and students absenteeism here is extremely low and the school displays a tremendous amount of love, happiness, and commitment for any observer to witness.

It is a place where staff members gladly and freely commit their time and effort to make their service a truly exemplary one. Students during the interval do not loaf around in the school precincts unless for a specific reason.

The school environs are clean and spotless and I often throw a challenge to visitors to find a piece of litter in the premises because if by chance they come across dirt I would reward them for their find and that’s how hygienic we are. 

Our academic staff consists of qualified teachers in English and even in French. We maintain a very high and a healthy rate of attendance amongst both teachers and students. As against the normal academic evaluation system, we adopt a special and a professional student evaluation system that assess all aspects of human growth as behavior, discipline, inculcation of religious values, mental and physical health, aesthetic and creative inclinations and leadership.

Attending morning mass daily is compulsory for students and teachers and after mass teachers accompany their students to classes. The school continues till 2.30pm and thereafter extra classes are arranged for students who need extra tutoring. Conducting extra classes is a must for all teachers as it is done specifically to bring weak students to be on par with the smart ones in class.

Teachers are encouraged to do their own lesson planning for a year ensuring the achievement of yearly targets and there are daily instructions, frameworks and guidelines for teachers to follow. This approach make teachers responsible for their teaching tasks and one of the teachers explained “here we make our lesson plans whereas in other schools we teach according plans prepared by others”.

This I feel could be a prime reason why parents from all over the country are eager to get their children admitted to our school to be enriched for life by an internationally benchmarked well-rounded education.

Q. I feel you have a unique approach to school administration, can you explain how?

A. I treat every teacher in a special way to make each feel that he or she is important for the successful running of the school. Then there are supervisory pressures where the teachers are asked to adhere to certain quality parameters in their work. Feedback received from parents is the basic criterion to ascertain performance of teachers. Achievements of their targets are monitored in comparison to their peers and there is a heavy work load in terms of the preparatory work for the next year for any teacher. Yet teachers here find their work comforting and relaxed.

During parent meetings, teachers meet with parents and this helps both the teacher and the parent discuss individually, the progress of their children. I request teachers to repeat the advice discussed until the students understand them properly. This in turn helps in the healthy growth of a student. I also encourage teachers to follow up on student’s bad behavior until they get themselves corrected.

When asked, a supportive staffer says “I will never leave this school even in exchange for a chest of gold for the way our Rector treats us. I absolutely have no reason to leave because he gives us ample freedom in our work and he understands each of us like the palm in his hand. He even goes out of his way to support us financially when a need arise.”

Q. In my carrier life as a freelance journalist and wordsmith I have never come across such a unique and an extraordinary being as you. Can I know why?

A. I hold the high office of Rector / Principal of St. Thomas International Catholic College with a Licentiate of Theology, Bachelor of Philosophy, Bachelor of Theology and Bachelor of Education Degrees from Salesian University of Rome and a Master of Education Degree from the University of Colombo. 

Yet I have committed my entire life to the service of others through the Catholic Church which for me is answering a call of God.