Established 1897 Grades 1–13 Phone +94 41 2 222288 Founded 1897 | Principal K.Ranasinghe Number of students Over 2500 Motto Be a Man Color Green and White | |
Type All-Boys government school Similar Rahula College, St Thomas' College, Silva Ward Matara, Freelan Enterprises, St Mary's Convent | ||
St servatius college anthem
St. Servatius' College is an all-boys school located in the Matara district, Sri Lanka. Initially founded by Jesuit Fathers in 1897, the high school was nationalised in the 1960s and is now run as a government school.
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History
St. Servatius' college was founded when the bishop of Galle, Joseph Van Reeth, wanted to create an educational infrastructure in the newly established diocese. Van Reeth called on some Belgian Jesuits for help. Father Augustus Standaert, among others, arrived in Galle in 1896, and on 2 November 1897 they opened an English medium school on a small block of the land at the bank of River Nilwala in Pallimulla, Matara. The school opened with five students in 1896 and within two years it had grown to accommodate 54 students.
In August 1898 a new structure was erected for the school. As the construction funds came from the St Servatius Jesuit school of Liège (Belgium), the Matara new school adopted the same patron saint and was named after St. Servatius. Saint Servatius was a 4th-century missionary in Belgium and one of the first bishops of the area around Tongeren, Maastricht and Liège. A popular figure during his lifetime, Saint Servatius attracted much devotion and veneration after his death.
After some years the school was moved to its present location in Kotuwegoda, Matara. In 1961, as part of a government program to take over private schools, this college was adopted by the education department, although it was administered by Catholic Fathers until 1965.
St. Servatius college is currently home to over 2,500 students and is guided by over one hundred staff, led by the principal, Nimalsiri Wanigabaduge. St. Servatius college was made a Sri Lankan national school in 1994.
College houses
College houses' names listed in alphabetical order.
St. Servatius–St. Thomas' Cricket Encounter
St. Servatius–St. Thomas' Cricket Encounter known as the Battle of the Blues (Matara) is the annual cricket match played between St. Servatius' College Matara and St. Thomas' College, Matara.