D. S. Senanayake College

D. S. Senanayake College ඩී.ඇස්.සේනානායක විද්‍යාලයය டி.எஸ் சேனாநாயக்க கல்லூரி
Front entrance to the school
Address
No 62, R. G. Senanayake Mawatha, Cinnamon Gardens Colombo, Western Province , Western Province , 00700 Sri Lanka
Coordinates	6°54′30″N 79°52′29″E / 6.90833°N 79.87472°E / 6.90833; 79.87472
Information
Other names	DS DSSC
School type	National school 1AB Government School
Motto	Sinhala: තමාට පෙර රට (Country Before Self)
Established	10 February 1967 (1967-02-10)
School district	Colombo
Principal	Sampath Weragoda
Teaching staff	284
Grades	1-13
Gender	Male
Age range	6 -19
Enrolment	6000 - 8000
Language	Sinhalese Tamil English
Hours in school day	07:30 - 13:30
Houses	Shura   Meththa   Weera   Shantha
Colour(s)	Black and gold
Song	"Sip Satha Sis Wetha"
Newspaper	Siyapatha
Website	dssenanayakecollege.lk

D. S. Senanayake College (Sinhala: ඩී.ඇස්.සේනානායක විද්‍යාලය; Tamil: டி.எஸ் சேனாநாயக்க கல்லூரி; also referred to as DS and DSSC) is a boys' primary and secondary national school in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It was established on 10 February 1967 with R. I. T. Alles as the founding principal,^[1][2] and was named after the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, D. S. Senanayake.

It provides education from Grades 1 to 13 in Sinhalese, Tamil and English languages. It is the second-largest multi-ethnic school in the country. Its street name was formerly known as Gregory Road but was renamed to R. G. Senanayake Mawatha in 2013.^[3]

In 1965, the number of requests to admit children into the Royal College Primary had become excessive. Thus the Minister of Education I. M. R. A. Iriyagolla took the initiative to build a new school in Cinnamon Gardens on the lines of Royal College, Colombo.^[4] In 1967, Minister Iriyagolla began the ground work for establishing the school. It was named after D. S. Senanayake, who was the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) after gaining independence. R. I. T. Alles, an assistant principal at Royal College became the head teacher of the new school. The location in which the college stands today was at that time called the Kumbikale jungle.^[5]

As a resolution the Ministry of Education had taken a decision to increase the number of primary schools, to meet with the increasing demand of parents enrolling their children to Colombo schools. The secretary of the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, M. J. Perera, was assigned to find a suitable plot of land to start the new school. Accordingly, the empty plot of land situated down the Gregory's road normally "Kubi Kelle" adjoining Kinsy road was selected for the purpose with another land bounded the said premises which belonged to the Ministry of Defense and also was acquired building plans were prepared and implemented by the state engineering co - operation.^{[citation needed]}

Alles who had been an assistant teacher at Royal College had been appointed as the principal of D. S. Senanayake College. He was helped by the principal of Royal College, B. Premarathne. The cadet platoon of the Royal College also cleaned the land holding a shramadana. Five assistant teachers and office equipment were donated by the Royal College.^{[citation needed]}

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The school has a hostel which provides accommodation to over 200 students. The hostel was opened in January 2003 by the Minister of Education, Karunasena Kodituwakku. The students were admitted to the hostel for the first time in February 2003.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to D. S. Senanayake College.

• Official website