Sooriyawewa School

Sooriyawewa School is located in a remote northeast corner of Sri Lanka. The school has 70 -100 students and 6 teachers, and funding from the government is limited. Parents are mostly poor farmers, who suffered a lot during the time of war. Although they don’t fear terrorist attacks anymore, wild elephant attacks are common, and the jumbos roam school grounds during most nights.  

Among the many other schools in the area, this school is unique in terms of the dedication of teachers and its Principal. They go out of their way to teach the kids, conducting extra classes during afternoons and weekends. The outcome is evident in the Grade 5 scholarship exam results every year. The results have been by far the best among 102 other schools in the Welikanda division. Ten students passed the exam in 2017, one with the highest marks of 189 out of 200. In 2018, four students passed the exam, one with the highest marks of 187. Multiple students qualified to attend top-tier schools in the nations’ capital, Colombo.