I entered Royal during the final years of Mr L. D. H. Peiris and left the College during the tenure of Mr Suriarachchi. During my school years, I witnessed a gradual erosion of standards, from the heights achieved under Mr Peiris to a noticeably more mediocre level by the time I left.
After leaving school, my association with Royal was minimal. Like many old boys, I returned mainly for Royal–Thomian, the Bradby, and a few other Rugby matches each year.
Fast forward a few decades, and I became closely associated with Royal once again when my son was due to be admitted. Through conversations with friends who were already parents at the school, I began to realise how badly standards had deteriorated; so much so that Royal was barely a shadow of the institution it once was.
My son attended kindergarten at an international school, and I was more than satisfied with both the education and the environment there. That school exceeded my expectations in every respect. Rationally, I had no reason to move him. However, as a Royalist, I carried the same dream many Royalist fathers have—to see my son educated at Royal. He was selected for Grade 1, and I admitted him to Royal. It was an emotional decision, not a rational one.
It did not take long for me to realise what a grave mistake I had made.
I know it may be difficult for you to believe this, considering the time you were at school, but Royal had become a deeply corrupt institution, run by mafia-style administrators and their henchmen. The high standards we once associated with Royal were no longer maintained. Worse still, it was no longer a secular school. In practice, it had become an ultra-Buddhist version of Ananda Vidyalaya on Reid Avenue.
I am a Buddhist myself. However, one of the core values I cherished at the Royal I attended was its strong secular culture. Watching that character being systematically destroyed was deeply disappointing.
At this point, a gentleman by the name of Mr Padmasena Dissanayake wrote an article in the Daily FT opposing the conversion of Royal into a Buddhist school. It was truly a breath of fresh air. I agreed with every word he wrote and reached out to thank him, as a fellow Royalist, for having the courage to speak out.
Coming to corruption more broadly, almost everything at Royal involved illegal money collections. A few years ago, over Rs. 100 million was collected annually from students in each grade of the primary school alone, excluding official school fees. Following Mr Dissanayake’s persistent complaints to the Bribery Commission, legal action, and newspaper exposure, these collections reduced significantly.
After his article opposing the Buddhification of the school and his stand against religious extravaganzas that cost parents millions of rupees, such collections largely stopped, and religious activities were scaled down. He was also instrumental in pushing for the transfer of some of the most corrupt, mafia-linked teachers last year; a major relief for parents of primary school students.
More recently, Mr Dissanayake has taken up the issue of admissions to English medium classes in Grade 6, specifically allegations of bribe-based admissions and the conduct of a non-transparent selection test. To give you an example, it was Rs. 500,000 to get a student who had failed the selection test to English medium. These are the matters he is fighting on behalf of the parents on a regular basis.
Parents are generally afraid to challenge school administrators, even when they witness blatant corruption, due to the fear that their children may be victimised. Unfortunately, such victimisation has occurred in the past to children of parents who questioned illegal money collections. In this climate, Mr Dissanayake has become the only real hope many parents have.
It is also important to understand that the present-day student demography at Royal is vastly different from your time; and even from my time in the 1980s. Colombo 7 boys now form only a small minority at Grade 1 admissions, as Colombo 7 has largely become a commercial area. Many old boys living nearby knowingly choose international schools for their children, given the current state of Royal. Even prominent old boys such as Kishan Balendra, son of Ken Balendra, have chosen not to send their sons to Royal.
So where do most Grade 1 students come from today? From various suburbs, and often through not-so-legal means. A large section of the parent cohort is newly rich, places little value on institutional culture, and believes everything can be solved by throwing money. In my view, old boy admissions at Grade 1 are now mainly contested among Royalists who themselves entered the school at Grade 6. The demographics and values of today’s students are vastly different from those of the past. Sadly, the standards and values of many teachers have deteriorated just as badly.
I often wonder why so many distinguished old boys remain silent while our school is being dismantled for the financial benefit of a few corrupt individuals. Mr Dissanayake remains the only old boy I have seen who has publicly and consistently challenged this corrupt status quo.
I am not a friend of Mr Dissanayake. I do not know whether he seeks attention or has a personal vendetta against the RCU. I do not care whether he was an exemplary student during his school days. What matters to me is what he is doing now. He is the only old boy actively and consistently fighting corruption and malpractice at Royal. As a parent I see the positive results from his constant battles.
I am deeply saddened by the current state of Royal, and even more so by the silence of the old boy community. Collectively, we have failed our school. If the RCU had truly visionary leadership, they would work with people like Mr Dissanayake and make use of them for the betterment of the school.
My wish is that all alumni who genuinely want Royal to regain its former greatness will unite to fight corruption and malpractice at the school. Perhaps it is already too late, but even now, we owe it to future generations to try to make Royal great again.
An Epilogue from the Editor:
Padmasena Dissanayake’s recent appeal to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to investigate the RCU’s misusing State Properties for own profit, has riled some of the “Living Legends” of RC.
These are the distinguished and iconic alumni who attended a school which was a shining example not only to SL but to most Colonies regaining independence from the British rule. RC, often referred to as a lasting legacy left behind by British Empire stood proudly with its unique Secular values when the Island was periodically burning with communal violence.
Most of these Alumni left our shores many decades ago and domiciled in the West or the Down Under. Their memories were that of a great and rare school which turned them into exemplary Men who could stand proudly anywhere in the world.
Since they are far removed from today’s reality, it’s natural for them to be upset and angry with the only person who exposes corruption and misdeeds at RC on a daily basis. He hasn’t stopped at mere exposing; he has gone before every Commission, every Authority seeking justice and punishment to wrongdoers.
As expected, there had been a series of attacks on Padmasena Dissanayake as a direct outcome of his public appeal to the President. Sadly no one has challenged the facts but instead gone on
A personal attack. So we feel that the best quote here should be President Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena”
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