The father of free education away from ungrateful people

 The father of free education away from ungrateful people

 Who is Christopher William Wijekoon Kannangara?  He was the first Minister of Education in Sri Lanka.  Father of Free Education in Sri Lanka.  He will never be forgotten by the people of Sri Lanka as well as the father of the nation and the father of rice.  Everyone knows he's a CWW.  As Kannangara.

 He was wearing a tie coat and trousers with a mustache.  The.  The people of Sri Lanka will never forget the image of Senanayake wearing a white national dress with a mustache.  How meaningful was it then that this great mathematician with hair and body wore a pair of spectacles and an Aryan Sinhala dress and a white scarf around your neck and said that instead of being proud of being in Ahal School, the students of the school should be proud of you?  He is the epitome of Sri Lankan politics

 He was first elected to the National State Assembly in 1923.  He was born on October 23, 1884 in Wewala Walawuwa, Wewala, Hikkaduwa.  Educated at Richmond College, Galle.  The then principal of the school, Father Darrell, said that he was the brightest student in the school.

This I am writing c.  W.W.  W.W.  Kannangara's life story is not about his services to the country.  A separate story.  When writing that story, various incidents about him should be included from time to time.  Are there politicians like him today?

He was a scholar of mathematics.  He was the first Sri Lankan student to pass the Cambridge Senior (Senior) Examination 116 years ago.  He was first a lecturer at Wesley College, Colombo and in 1910 became a Royal Counsel.  He was a scholar of English literature and gave priority to Sinhala Buddhism.  Together with Anagarika Dharmapala he initiated a Buddhist revival throughout the country.

Through this religious movement, D.C.  B.  Jayathilaka, d.  The.  F.  R.  Arthur, V.  He took the opportunity to work with Dias et al.  That is how he entered politics.  A mathematician, a mature teacher and a legal scholar, his entry into politics and his appointment as the Minister of Education greatly influenced the progress of the motherland.

In order for a country to change a society, its education system must be properly formulated.  Until then, no left or right force can change a country or a society.  Realizing this, Viyatha started the free education system in Sri Lanka.  Multinational wealth was not stolen.  Fraud and corruption were not committed.

 It is worth mentioning here a little bit of the great service he rendered in initiating free education in Sri Lanka.  Ceylon society was severely divided in the 1930s by an education system restricted to the rich.  There were two types of Sinhala and Tamil bilingual schools for the poor who could not afford to pay the fees of the schools which provided education to those who had privileges and money.

There was a huge gap between these 2 types of schools and the society was divided into two classes.  The number of schools in Sri Lanka at that time was 4023.  7% of them are English schools.  About 45 percent of the government's money spent on education was allocated to these English schools.  Of the remaining 93 percent, less than 55 percent was allocated to public schools.

The father of free education was the first to change this system.  He also began teaching English, algebra, geometry, arithmetic, biology, chemistry, and physics in public schools.  Central Colleges were started all over the country.  In 1941 there were three Central Colleges and in 1945 it was increased to 35 and by 1950 to 50.  Introduced the scholarship system.  The first Central College was started in Akuramboda, Matale, not in his village or in his seat.

He started a Pirivena for the monks and performed a great Sasana mission.  Here is an excerpt from his speech in the State Council introducing the Education Act.  “Postponement of justice is a lack of justice.  The time has come to do justice to the people of this country's rural areas. ”

He abolished the education system maintained by the missionaries.  Abolished the system of giving high posts only to those who knew English.  He also introduced the system of obtaining posts of doctors, engineers, lawyers and accountants to the children of the rural schools.  Introduced the system of providing free education from kindergarten to university.  Started the first university.

 The six-and-a-half-hour speech he delivered introducing the new Education Act was fully listened to by D.S.  Senanayake, H.  W.W.  Amarasuriya, Dudley Senanayake, Dr. Ann.  Am.  Perera, Dr. As.  it.  Wickramasinghe etc.  They all gladly agreed.  e.  W.W.  Adhikaram, Prof. G.S.  P.  Malalasekera, L.  H.  Scholars such as Methananda gave him full support from outside.  As mentioned above, are there people in politics or other high places today who are even close to the list?

 C.  W.W.  W.W.  Kannangara was in the cabinet formed when Dudley Senanayake became the Prime Minister for the second time and in the cabinet of the Kotelawala Prime Minister.  However, he did not get the ministry post again.  He was given the post of Minister of Local Government.  Politicians who came to power also paid tribute to him for his invaluable service to education in Sri Lanka.

In 1963, at the age of 79, while he was in bed at the Colombo General Hospital, he was offered a grant of Rs. 10,000 by a proposal made by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike.  Two years later, on November 5, 1965, a motion was tabled in Parliament to pay a monthly allowance of Rs. 500 to the son of the people.  Something special should be mentioned here.

Mr. Kannangara, Member of Parliament for Padirippu, delivered a speech praising Mr. Kannangara on his proposal to bring a monthly allowance to Parliament and expressing his gratitude for the service rendered to education in Sri Lanka without any distinction between Sinhalese, Tamils ​​and Muslims.  Am.  Only alchemy.  On September 23, 1969, at the age of 85, he died on a government hospital bed with nothing to do but a penny in his hand.

 Today we are enjoying the relief of the free education that he has given us.