Over 100,000 kids shipped into Colombo everyday for school?


Posted on December 17, 2007  /  8 Comments

If Colombo is home to you, did you know that 50% or so of homes in Colombo are in tenement gardens or are illegal shanties. The children from these homes attend neighborhood schools of poor quality. These children attend a school close to home and go home without causing congestion or pollution.

Not so with the National schools or private schools.

There are about 210,000 kids attending schools in Colombo. Of these roughly two thirds or 140,000 attend National schools or Private schools (See lists below).

According one estimate about 28,000 kids are shipped into Colombo from the Kaduwela area alone. It is very likely that most of the 140,000 or so kids attending private or national schools are shipped from suburbs of Colombo or places from along the roads to Colombo from Kandy, Negombo, Panadura or Athurugiriya. A modest estimate is at least 100,000.

Why do we who live in Colombo have to put up with the pollution and congestion caused by kids from outside of Colombo? Who allowed this crazy situation happen? Was not there a process to approve these schools? Should not new schools have been required to locate outside of Colombo, if they could not demonstrate that their intake is mostly from Colombo?

MAHANAMA COLLEGE. 3940
THURSTAN COLLEGE. 2530
HINDU COLLEGE. 4215
MUSLIM LADIES COLLEGE. 3372
RAMANATHAN HINDU LADIES C. 1830
ST.PAUL’S GIRLS SCHOOL. 3164
ISIPATHANA V. 4556
VISAKHA V. 4255
D.S.SENANAYAKE COLLEGE. 5619
SIRIMAVO BANDARANAYAKE B.V. 3220
DEVI BALIKA VIDYALAYA. 2320
ROYAL COLLEGE. 8149
ANANDA B.M.V. 2052
ANANDA COLLEGE. 5648
GOTHAMI B.M.V. 2862
NALANDA COLLEGE. 4444
HAMEED-AL-HUSSENIE M.V. 3010
KOTAHENA C.C. 749
VIVEKANANDA M.V. 2848
68783

Alethea International School
Amal International School
Asian International School
Belvoir College International
Buddhist Ladies College International
College Of World Education
Colombo International School
Colombo South International School
Elizabeth Moir School
Gateway College
Highlands College
Ikra International School
Ilma International School
J.M.C. International School
Leighton Park International School
Lyceum International School
Overseas School of Colombo
Oxford College International
Rotary International School
Royal Institute
St. Nicholas’ International College
Stafford International School
The British School In Colombo
Willesden College International
Wycherley International School
Bishops College
St.Peters College
Chithra Lane School for the Special
Saiva Mangaiyar Vidyalayam
St.Lawrence School
Buddhist Ladies College
Ladies College
Musaeus College
St.Bridgets Convent
Carey College
St.Aloysius Seminary School
Wesley College
St.Josephs College
Zahira College
Good Shephered Convent
St.Benedicts College

8 Comments


  1. Why shouldn’t any school take students from anywhere?

  2. Causes huge traffic congestion and parking problems when people are shipped in. The parking problems are caused bythe fact that the school vans cannot afford to return after dropping the children – the distances are too great, therefore all these vehicles park on by lanes or on the road causing further nuisance to residents.

    Better than children be schooled close to their residences, hence the ‘catchment’ for each school, unless they are boarders.

    The problem is that people assume that getting into a ‘good’ school automatcally means a good future. This is a myth, a school will only help if background is also good or reasonably so.

    I have met many products of the so-called good schools which do not meet any standards of quality and whose future has not (in my opinion) been improved by the said schools.

    The government needs to develop better quality education in the rural areas, perhaps using the existing ‘good schools’ – by persuading them to set up rural branches and also by utilising personalities such as RIT Alles (who founded DS Senanayake) to improve rural schools.

    More money needs to be diverted to primary, secondary and tertiary education and less spent on the University system.

  3. Easily said than done, the truth is its not so much a “myth” that there is vast difference between most schools in Colombo than outside. As someone who was “Shipped” into Colombo for most of my school-days, I’m glad my parents made that decision and didn’t send me off to the local Maha Vidyalaya.

    The only perceivable thing is for enterprising companies, such as Alles’s Gateway, Grero’s Lyceum to expand their network of branches, Lyceum and gateway already have branches outside of colombo – Negombo, Wattala so on..

    and frankly, you guys are worried about pollution/congestion vis a vis education? give me a break..

  4. Are you guys SERIOUSLY retarded? come on we all know th best schools in this country are in colombo, and you are asking the kids outside colombo to go 2 some messed up school?? since you guys in colombo don’t have enough space?? well y dont u go and live in some are where there is plenty of space????

    Our country is still a 3rd world country thanks to “idiots” who think like you guys.

    “Why do we who live in Colombo have to put up with the pollution and congestion caused by kids from outside of Colombo?” thats because of your fat a=@$$ go suck a d!ck or sumthing if u dont have anything to do….DIP$HIT!!!!!!

  5. Colombo schools demand good students (categorized and filtered from grade 5 scholarships and GCE O/L)to uplift their standards and achievements in competitive examinations and outstations has the capacity supply the deficiency colombo has.

    But the selection is purely based on written examination which is not a good measure to select good students.

    If colombo demand good students then it has to manage their waste too. And if the schools in colombo are limitted to local students then there is a possibility for an outstation school to be come the best school of the island.

  6. I agree with thiru in the Education demand and supply thing. But waste management is not a responsibility of a city or a municipality.

    Waste should be a responsibility of the person who produces it rather than someone who helps to dispose or manage it.

  7. Certain schools are identified for grade one admission as “popular” schools. Does that mean that all other schools are “unpopular”? What makes a popular school? Is it status, standards, numbers applying?

  8. Now this is why i don’t miss this country and it’s people..what a bunch of wankers!

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