William Rollo Lenden Hayman MA, DPhil (Oxon) MBE; Founder Headmaster of S Thomas' College Gurutalawa, retired in 1963 after an exemplary career in education. He gave up the honourable position of Sub-Warden of Mount Lavinia solely out of his love and passion for Gurutalawa. The longest serving STC Warden, the Rev. Canon R. S. de Saram (1932-1958), continued for 10 years without an assistant, hoping for Dr Hayman’s return to Mt Lavinia as Sub-Warded and become the Warden of STC Mt Lavinia after him. This did not transpire, and Mr Davidson was only appointed Sub-Warden in 1957, shortly before his retirement in December 1958. Mr Davidson became the 11th Warden of STC Mt Lavinia.
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Cherished Memories of Gurutalawa back then. |
Dr Hayman, Mrs Hayman and Rev Fr Foster continued with the building programme at Gurutalawa. In his last Prize Day speech in 1962 before his retirement in 1963, he expressed his sentiments about Gurutalawa and the building program that needed to continue. A science laboratory, a library, and a school hall were priorities that needed to be considered. The Science laboratory came up in 1970 which Dr Hayman himself declared open, on his 1st visit to college since his retirement. The Rev Foster Memorial Hall and the Library building followed.
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| Rev A J Foster Memorial Hall & The Science Laboratory |
However, the school that Dr Hayman expected to run in the lines of the British Outward-bound Boarding style with a limit of 360 boys did not see through as Gurutalawa struggled to keep afloat by the late 70s and early 80s. The need for a primary section made the numbers to run over 1000 and a nose dive was imminent.
The general maintenance of the school infrastructure
was no longer a priority and the overcrowding in the dormitories exhausted the
drainage systems, which needed improvement. The required finances were immense
and the matter was distracted and any progress made was slow. The picturesque
Gurutalawa turned gloomy by the year and it became a herculean task for the OBA
to source funds to keep Gurutalawa in good shape. Many attempts to
revive existing forms of lending and develop new financial programs failed for
a variety of reasons.
My friend Thowfeek in attempting to revive such
a programme notes the situation at Gurutalawa thus;
“When Father Marc B was Headmaster of
Gurutalawa, I met him at the Bishop’s House in 2015. At this meeting, I told
him, we cannot go around every quarter with a begging bowl asking for funds to
repair x, y, and z. When we left College, the School was 25 years old, today it
is over 75 years old, and as such the school needs a sustainable source of
income every month for maintenance. To that end, I suggested we must build up
an endowment fund. It was then I learnt about the R L Hayman Foundation. He
told me this fund started with an initial contribution from Mrs Hayman as part
of her last will. It was around Rs.200,000. This Fund was formally launched by
Father Marc in 2009. I jumped at this and told him I would make a nominal
initial contribution and let us start a fund-raising effort. Years went by and
nothing really happened. Thanks to high interest rates in Sri Lanka, this fund
has now grown to Rs.9 million.”
Gurutalawa is now 82 years old and in December 2023
the boys of the 1962 – 1974 period reunited for a very enjoyable fellowship in
Colombo followed by a trip to Gurutalawa. It was most disappointing when the
boys visited STC Bandarawela and found how backward Gurutalawa was in
infrastructure maintenance and the general upbringing of the students. The loss
of Thomian traditions had led to the loss of the ‘Thomian Grit’.
My friend Thowfeek continued his feelings about the
reunion; “I met with the Headmaster and the Manager
along with Nimal, Wani, Dulip, Rajpal and a few others and presented a
financial plan. The objective was simple, to raise sufficient funds in a brief
period, say 3 years, when the fund grows to a certain level that will generate
interest income that will give the school Rs. One million a month forever and
ever, hopefully, grow even more. Our plan included how the fundraising can be
arranged. All we asked was transparency and governance be established by
amending the article of the Fund.”
Nine months from that meeting, we’ve not
progressed an inch closer to reviving this Trust… But despite these gloomy
feelings, Gurutalawa sees signs of hope.
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The Iconic Chapel & its interior
Mr Kapila Gunawardane, a former Managing Director at Union Carbide Corporation Sri Lanka, who graduated from Guru in 1956 and now lives in Sydney, Australia, is interested in using his savings to help Gurutalawa build a full-fledged indoor sports stadium. This was based on a discussion in October 2023 when Mr Gunawardane met with Mr Nihal Wanniarachchi, the Headmaster Mr Laksiri Perera and Mr Senaka de Fonseka the Manager of the school with the Board of Governors represented by Mr Hiran Molligoda.
Around the same time, Dr Neil Horadagoda, a Veterinary Pathologist and an academic attached to the University of Sydney, a contemporary of my Gurutalawa
days, contacted me again from Sydney, Australia, expressing his passion and
affection for the old science laboratory building, inquiring how he could assist
with its modernization. In addition, Mr Dulip de Silva, my contemporary
and a Senior Chef, also from Sydney, was on holiday and was going to
Gurutalawa to see the kitchen and see how it could be modernized.
Gurutalawa was to get a facelift
of the kitchen and the laboratory by the end of 2023 with the personal funding
of Neil and Dulip with assistance from a few other old boys . Dulip also organized 1568 pieces of cutlery (392 sets of forks,
spoons, knives and teaspoons) through the Australian diaspora and later 300
stainless steel plates and mugs from the remaining funds from the reunion,
supplemented by the support of other old boys. It was after this visit that Neil met Kapila
in Sydney and a digitalization programme for Gurutalawa was discussed. As a
result, the Indoor Stadium Project was split; introducing Digitalized Smart
Teaching Facilities for the senior classrooms and upgrading the IT Laboratory to
an IT Library facility.
Kapila was in Sri Lanka to
discuss the ‘modus operandi and a committee was formed with the Headmaster and
the School Manager on the 2nd of December 2023. The Hayman
Memorial Digital Initiative for Gurutalawa (HMDI) is formed. His Manager
at Union Carbide Sri Lanka then, Mr Nihal Wanniarachchi is appointed Chairman
of the committee and Mano Gnanaraj, the financial controller. Other members
were to join when required. The main objectives
of the project were identified; Full renovation of the Senior School classrooms
and making them lockable. Upgrading the existing IT Laboratory with a more
spacious arrangement absorbing the sports administration area. Obtain a digital
cloud facility from a reputed service provider with all the setup facilities
linking other STC schools with Gurutalawa etc.
The upgrade of the classrooms
commenced with the input of Architect Shammin Jayawickrame, and it was at this
stage that I was introduced to the programme to formalize Project Management
and Contract Administration. The Civil Construction work kicked off in
mid-December and the proposals for the digitization from Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd
(SLT) and Dialog-Axiata are awaited.
Meanwhile, Neil had been
negotiating with the headmaster about his interest in cleaning up the
laboratory. The age-old biological specimens from the Hayman era were now a
health and safety threat. He arranged for them to be safely disposed of, and
the long-delayed maintenance of the lab building was begun with his funds and
carried out by his nephew, a building contractor. The dedication and commitment
of the building contractor find him entrusted with the implementation of the HMDI
classroom upgrading component as well.
The scope of work included the
provision of aluminium doors and windows, new ceilings as well as a complete
replacement of electrical system. Wooden wall guards were installed to prevent
damage to the walls by desks and the outer verandah walls were finished with
granite stone drywall cladding.
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Classrooms before and after rehabilitationWe are midway through our classroom upgrade programme and have received the proposals from the two service providers. Without going into the details looking at the price proposals we see that both offers charge a whopping sum that is over Rs 500,000 per month as cloud rental. Mano was the first to sound the alarm, saying Gurutalawa could not afford such a monthly fee.
There was no turning back now and
alternatives had to be looked for. Gurutalawa had produced many professionals
in the 50s and 60s era, and my judgement was to get advice from my classmate
Anil Gammampila, an eminent personality in the IT world for over four decades to
suggest a sustainable solution for the digital journey in Gurutalawa. His local company, "Itechro" Pvt
Ltd., was instructed to go to Gurutalawa to carry out a fact-finding mission and
report and propose a solution
A question-and-answer session on the
10th of January 2024, followed their proposal to have a physical
link between the Administration Block, the Senior Classrooms and the Science
Laboratory. A central Server in the IT hub area in the Administration Block
with sub-servers in the classrooms and the laboratory will manage the total
digitization of 12 smartboards and 32 computers. One of the two available SLT, Wi-Fi
connections will be linked to the server with an upgrade on the bandwidth All
these buildings will have Wi-Fi connectivity with the servers and the second
SLT Wi-Fi connection will be terminated. This way the school will manage the
system within a paltry sum of approximately 35 thousand rupees a month.
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Q&A Session-Itechro |
The IT Library was to get new
individual tables turned out by an old boy from Moratuwa, each of which came
with a new swivel chair on casters.
The new IT area was redesigned to
the visionary preference of Kapila and Neil. A hands-on hardware assembly unit
for student practice, an IT lecture area for interactive learning and
discussion, and delivering information to groups. The new IT Library area is
positioned on a raised access floor facilitating swift and easy service access
for Power and LAN services.
Sourcing a suitable raised floor
was not an easy task with the enforced restrictions on the importation of
fabricated construction material. However, with my previous contacts, I managed
to locate a Contractor/Supplier who had an excess stock of a raised floor
imported for a now abandoned project; and I managed to talk over and obtain
part of his stock for Gurutalawa. The renovated classroom building and TI
library area were completed in seven months.
In the IT Laboratory the new
areas were partitioned with Aluminum doors to separate different usages and a
new entrance door replaced the old barn-type door into the old sports area.
Project Execution
Three contracts were prepared as
per the Government procurement guidelines and CIDA regulations for the Civil
construction works in the classroom block and the IT Library. The total package
of fibre optic cabling including the relevant civil work and materials was
contracted to SLTS Ltd, a subsidiary of Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd. Anil Gammampila
himself funded the connectivity construction package including the equipment
supplied from Australia. Further, Itechro Ltd will undertake the maintenance of
the system for one year after being handed over to the school. The school by
then should facilitate an IT specialist to maintain the system and troubleshoot
glitches.
HMDI will not stop at just
facilitating the infrastructure for digital teaching but continue its services
in providing the know-how and the technical skills needed for both the teacher
and the student.
All
the software used in the system is Windows-based and Office 360 full suit and
are Licensed Versions. The school is to undertake the annual fee from next year
onwards. Initially, 12 packages have been purchased. (10 for teaching through
HMDI and 2 by the College for administration purposes). This will provide
digital access to 480 students with dedicated email addresses to access the
learning process. The number of packages will need to increase to cover all the
staff (approx. 35) to gain the full benefit currently it is limited to 12 staff
members.
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| New IT Library /Laboratory on a raised floor |
The teachers will be introduced to a Learning Management System (LMS) a robust platform that holds course content, materials and administration in one user-friendly online system. This will allow the teacher easy management of classes and track their student's progress. Highlight areas of strength and weakness for ongoing performance improvement. The LMS will create an environment where students can interact with content, collaborate with other learners and communicate with their teacher outside the classroom. And apps like Google Classroom would make it simple to share these materials.
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New Classroom interior with Smart-board &
White-board |
Neil, a former university teacher, will continue with an initial induction program for all senior class teachers on the LMS with the support of the school IT Teachers. This will be a continuous exercise monitored by him and supported by the school management.
Therefore, HMDI has created its
Vision statement for Gurutalawa as;
"To transform our STCG
into a dynamic learning environment that leverages digital technologies to
enhance student engagement, foster personalized learning experiences, and equip
students with the skills and competencies needed for success in the 21st-century
global economy."
This vision statement
encapsulates the overarching goals of digitalizing a secondary school by
considering the following key components used
Enhanced Learning Experiences:
Utilize digital tools and platforms to create interactive and immersive
learning experiences that cater to diverse learning styles and preferences.
This includes incorporating multimedia content, virtual simulations, and collaborative
online projects to make learning more engaging and impactful.
Personalized Education: Implement
digital solutions such as learning management systems and adaptive learning
platforms to tailor instruction to individual student needs and preferences. By
leveraging data analytics and artificial intelligence. Teachers can provide
personalized support and guidance to help students reach their full potential.
Digital Literacy and Skills
Development: Integrate digital literacy and technology skills development into
the curriculum to ensure that students are equipped with the necessary digital
competencies for success in the digital age. This includes teaching coding,
digital citizenship, information literacy, and critical thinking skills.
Professional Development: Provide
ongoing training and support for teachers to effectively integrate technology
into their teaching practices and leverage digital tools to enhance learning
outcomes. Encourage collaboration and sharing of best practices to foster a
culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
Therefore, HMDI and STC
Gurutalawa would work towards a goal for all students from Grade 6 onwards to
be equipped with a laptop as the learning device in five years to come. Only
then will Gurutalawa become the first school to offer a complete IT learning
package in the classroom? However, this could only be achieved if the school
administration, managers and the board of governors all have a unified
visionary approach in this regard.
HDMI to continue?
Recent efforts to improve
facilities and infrastructure in Gurutalawa have had various shortcomings. Most
of these programs have been abandoned or not implemented at all. However, to
achieve its goals, HDMI adopted a different approach to fund management and
project implementation. This is because HDMI had the right to reject or approve
schemes outside its scope. The central figure, Mr Kapila Gunawardane,
always did this with due diligence and ensured the final decision was taken in
coordination with the headmaster and the school administration.
As a result, the relocation of
the Hayman Museum into the Old Senior Library area and a new extension to the
senior school staffroom with proper ablution facilities were undertaken with
the remaining funds. General improvement in the student washrooms is also
considered. Anil is to fund and facilitate the connectivity links to the Foster Memorial Hall and the Library building with the central server in the administration block. This is an extension of the scope, peeking the future needs.
However, since HMDI’s key
supporters Kapila, Neil and Anil are from Australia and the efforts of HMDI were
well deployed; There is the thought that the Australian-Gurutalawa diaspora may
be willing to support Gurutalawa if projects are undertaken along the same lines.
For this reason, there is a suggestion to continue the fund as the "Sydney
Fund in Support of Gurutalawa". As a result, Gurutalawa may witness
many more modernization programs in the future.
Transferring the HMDI to the school.
The final strength of HMDI is the
implementation of the product within the school itself. An elaborate three-day
program (2nd October – 4th October 2024) has been planned
to transfer the product to the school. The event organized by the HMDI and the
school management will be attended by the Board of Governors, teachers, parents
and the students. The key stakeholders Kapila, Neil and Anil will share their
visionary approach to the digital learning program and identify milestones to
be achieved through the process.
Documents relating to Financial
Disbursement, Contract Management, Equipment Procurement and inventories with
serial numbers, guarantees/warranties will be handed to the school management
to be included in the school's assets. A total maintenance manual of the
digitalization system is provided with checklists and troubleshooting
guidelines. The system maintenance in the first year will be complementary to
Anil’s generosity undertaken by “Itechro Ltd”.
Conclusion
Gurutalawa is now 82 years old. This timeline spans three important eras; the Hayman era (1942-1963), the Immediate post-Hayman era (1963-1977), and the New School era when the school expanded to have a primary section. Except for Kapila, who is a product of the Hayman era, most of us in HMDI represent the Immediate post-Hayman era. Both Nihal Wanniarachchi and Mano Gnanaraj saw the end of the Hayman era but their interaction was more in the post-Hayman Era.
We from the Hayman and
Post-Hayman eras feel very nostalgic because the facilities available in the boarding
schools at that time were luxuries that most homes did not have. Electricity
and running water were available only in the townships while most of the boys
were from affluent rural families. Hence, parents were willing to let their
children go as the amenities available were a relief and it would be a new
experience for their children. It is with this understanding that we demand to bring
back the tradition and the culture that was once incomparable at Gurutalawa.
However, one needs to understand
that we are also the “Last of the Mohicans.” We could only make our
presence felt if we got in the act of bringing back that dream school on the
ground again. Just voicing our concerns and criticisms will get us nowhere close for we belong
to a disappearing progeny. The present-day old boy is no longer from an era
related to Dr Hayman. Therefore, our approach to any modernization or other
development needs to blend with the new functions of the school.
However, there still can be a
similarity or equality of the boarding house which runs in the same lines
unique to Gurutalawa. But can Gurutalawa market its boarding school as then to
the current middle-class parent? The answer will be a big NO as the amenities
in the dormitories are those that were available for us then. But today the
average home has tiled floors and attached washrooms comfortable ventilation
etc. There had been parents demanding even running hot water in the dormitories.
Such is the asking for, at Gurutalawa today.
Therefore, one must realize that
demanding a Gurutalawa that we experienced then is no longer a valid demand for
two reasons. Gurutalawa needs to be marketed today unlike then. And for this,
the upgrading of amenities requires a huge investment. Also, the English-speaking
social structure with the adventurous outward-bound culture and the
independence that the student inculcated outside school and home when
travelling together to and from school by train is no longer an asking.
Gurutalawa has the right to be
transformative and marketable in today's competitive field of education.
Equally, Gurutalawa is committed to preserving the Thomian traditions that are
special to us outside of the academia that most other schools also offer today.