The Inspiring History of St. John's National School, Panadura

We the Old Johnians consider it most opportune to trace the history of St. John's College, Panadura on the occasion of the visit of Minister of Human Resources Development, Education and Cultural Affairs Dr. Karunasena Kodituwakku to the College today (22) for a felicitation ceremony for distinguished Old Johnians.

St. John's and schools were the offspring of the 'State School for English' established by the British Government in Panadura in the year 1832.

During the British rule in 1834, the Colbrook Commission made a remarkable recommendation that English should be taught as a compulsory language in state schools. Further, the other recommendation was to appoint a 'Schools Commission' for the purpose of administration. Later in 1841 that Commission was abolished and in its place the 'Central Schools Commission' was appointed. That Commission paved the way for the creation of an 'Assisted School System' by granting financial assistance to non-governmental schools administered by Christian Missionaries and others who owned privately run schools. During this period 'Primary English Schools' were established in various parts of the country. The students of those small schools with a medium of 75 students had to pay a school fee, and the medium of education was English. The subjects taught were English, Maths, History, Geography and Christianity.

It was one of those primary schools established by the British government which was the origin of the present 'St. John's College' in Panadura.

The Vision

To create a vibrant and engaged community of alumni who are united by their shared experiences at our school, and who actively contribute to the growth and development of the institution and its students.

The Values

Unity and Camaraderie

We value the bond that ties us together as alumni, and we strive to maintain a strong sense of unity, camaraderie, and mutual support within our association.

Service and Giving Back

We believe in giving back to our school and the community. We actively engage in initiatives that contribute to the betterment of the institution and support the educational and personal development of current students.

Preserving Tradition

We are dedicated to preserving the rich heritage and traditions of our school. We celebrate and honor our shared history, and work to ensure that future generations of students can benefit from the same values and experiences that shaped us.

Lifelong Learning

We value the pursuit of knowledge and continuous learning. We encourage personal and professional growth among our members, and provide opportunities for networking, mentorship, and intellectual enrichment.

Message from the President

I am so glad to announce to you that we have decided to re-launch our website to keep you informed of the activities of our association.

A major role with regard to this web site was played by Kosala Sampath who is our present editor.

As every one of you know, last year became a challenging year for us as well, due to the economic downturn of the country and due to the impacts of the Corona pandemic. Yet, we managed to carry out many projects in the school in collaboration with the Principal and the staff.

Photographs and videos of the programmes which we carried out can be viewed in this site which need no further explanation.

There were so many, who came forward to assist us financially as well as in other means and ways. Their support and encouragement always kept us on our toes to do things better.I would like to thank the executive committee for the dedicated support given to carry out all the activities with great success.

May the St.John’s College Panadura go from strength to strength.

The General Secretary

Dear Johnians

We are one of the oldest past pupils associations which is in operation in Sri Lanka. Our association was established by our founder Principal Cyrial Arnold Jansz in the year 1906. Johnians of our college had served the country and the world in different capacities in the past as well as in the present.

To keep our association in par with the modern trends we decided to re-launch this web site and we are maintaining a face book page as well to keep the membership updated. This will be very useful to our members, well-wishers and other parties who are interested about our activities all over the world to keep them updated.

We are celebrating our 115th anniversary this year and big thank goes to all of you, who contributed to develop this web site. All are warmly invited to reap the benefits of this web site.

The Treasurer

I am in great pleasure to write this small message to be published on AOJ Web Page.

Being appoited as the Treasurer of AOJ since 2018, I am pleased to state here that our society is quite stable and managed to raise its current financial assets level nearly ten million and resulting of which its fund status, mainly consists of scholarship fund, sports & sports ground development fund, welfare fund and fixed deposits etc. Moreover, pleased to state here that there is an up comming new fund project known as Education Development Fund.

Meantime I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all Johnians for their valuable contribution and support extended to make these fund projects a reality.