# St. Thomas' College, Matara

St. Thomas' College (සාන්ත තෝමස් විද්‍යාලය) is a government-aided boys’ primary and secondary school in Matara, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1844, the college was initially a private Anglican school in Wellamadama, Dondra, by Rev. Fr. N. J. Ondatjee. Ondatjee was a missionary with the Christian Missionary Society of England. It currently has over 4,200 enrolled students for primary and secondary education.

## History

St. Thomas' College was founded by the Christian Missionary Society of England in 1844. The main concern of the various missionary bodies in Sri Lanka during the early period of British rule in Ceylon was providing English education. As a result of this, St. Thomas' School later became a secondary school in 1914, as St. Thomas' College commenced in a bungalow in the village of Wellamadama, the current location of the University of Ruhuna.
The school was founded by one of the first Anglican missionaries, Rev. Fr. N. J. Ondatjee, in 1844 with several students and three teachers. Odantjee was later succeeded by others, including Kumaratunga Munidasa, who promoted Sinhala language and literature. In 1960, St. Thomas' College was vested in the Government after a long period of missionary control. K. B. Jayasuriya became the first principal under Government administration. J. E. M. Fernando, K. B. Jayasuriya and E. A. de L. W. Samarasinghe reactivated the college's old boys association, which was defunct after its inauguration by S. J. Gunasekeram in 1934. B. D. Jayasekera designed the college flag and the crest in the early 20th century.
The Buddhist shrine room constructed at the college premises by the Old Boys Association in 1999 was inaugurated by Madihe Pannaseeha Thero, a Buddhist priest and also a former student of the college.
The school is one of the oldest cricket-playing schools in the island and plays the St. Thomas'–St. Servatius Cricket Encounter with St. Servatius' College. This is the second oldest cricket encounter in the island, also known as the Southern Battle of the Blues or Battle of the Ruhunu.

## Past principals

* N. J. Ondatjee (1844–1848)
* Abraham Dias Abeysinghe (1848–1852)
* John Stevensen Lyle (1852 –1854)
* F. H. De Winton (1854–1856)
* Fedrick Dias Edirisinghe (1856–1858)
* Quancy Adams (1858 – 1860)
* Clement La–brooy (1860–1865)
* A. W. Wijesinghe (1865–1866)
* W.E.Ferdinando (1866–1872)
* R.O. Macalam (1872–1878)
* F.K. Dency (1878–1884)
* J. W. Bultjens (1884–1890)
* R. C. Reginold (1890–1896)
* L. A. Arndt (1896–1902)
* S. J. Gunasekeram (1902 – 1903)
* C.P. Fernando (1903–1910)
* J. C. Handy (1910–1915)
* M. S. Solomon (1915–1925)
* P.S.Adams (1925–1934)
* C. C. P. Arulpragasam (1934–1944)
* R. V. L. Pereira (1944–1952)
* J. E. M. Fernando (1952–1959)
Government Principals
* K. B. Jayasuriya (1960–1975)
* E. A. De L. W. Samarasinghe (1975–1985)
* B. G. Sisira (1985–1999)
* Ratnasiri Suraweera (1999–2011)
* W. B. Piyathissa (2011–2021)
* T. L. Dayashantha (2021–2022 )
* P. A. Weerakkodi (2022–2024)
* Nayanapriya Perera (2024-present)

## College anthem

The school song was composed by Leonard Archibald Arndt (1889–1955), the school's principal between 1931 and 1933.

## College houses

There are four student houses in the college, named after four past principals. They are:
* Bultjens: Red
* Dias: Blue
* Ondatjee: Yellow
* Edirisinhe: Green

## Sports
### Cricket

The St. Thomas-St. Servatius Cricket Encounter, also known as Battle of the Blues or Battle of the Ruhunu (රුහුණු මහා නිල් සටන), is the annual school cricket match played between St. Thomas' College, Matara, and St. Servatius' College since 1900. This is the second oldest cricket encounter in Sri Lanka. The match has been played as a 3-day game since 2000, which was the centenary match.

### Football

The annual Thomas-Rahula Football Encounter' or "Battle of Golden Ensigns" football Match is played between St. Thomas' College, Matara, and Rahula College. It is one of the first annual inter-school football matches in Sri Lanka.

## Notable alumni

List of alumni of St. Thomas' College, Matara;
| Name | Notability |
| Politics |||
| Senerat Gunewardene | Ceylon's first Permanent Representative to United Nations, member Parliament Gampola (1947–1948) and Ceylon's High Commissioner to United Kingdom (1961–1963) |
| Justin Wijayawardhene | Member Parliament Matara (1960) Founding member of the United National Party |
| Badi-ud-din Mahmud | Member Parliament Matara (1963–1977) and Minister of Education (1970–1977) |
| Chandrasiri Gajadeera | Member Parliament Matara (1994–2001, 2004–2019) |
| Weerasumana Weerasinghe | Member Parliament Matara (2019–present) |
| Public Services |||
| Madihe Pannaseeha Thero | Buddhist monk (head Amarapura sect 1969–2003) |
| Cyril de Zoysa | President of the Senate of Ceylon (1960–1965), industrialist, philanthropist |
| Jabez Gnanapragasam | Anglican Bishop of Colombo (1987–1992) |
| P. B. Illangasinghe | Sri Lankan notary public and musicologist |
| Arts |||
| Kumaratunga Munidasa | linguist, poet, author, journalist |
| W Jayasiri | Sri Lankan Actor, Script Writer, Lyricist |
| Desmond de Silva | Singer |
| Tissa Nagodavithana | Film preservationist |
| Sports |||
| Indika de Saram | International cricket player (1999–2000) |
| Prabath Nissanka | International cricket player (2001–2003) |