The 164th Prize Giving of Royal College which honoured the students who achieved academic excellence in the years 2012 and 2013 took place on the 23rd of June at the ‘Navarangahala’. Following age old tradition, this prestigious event was graced by His Excellency the President, Maithreepala Sirisena along with the Hon. Prime Minister, Ministers, Members of Parliament, Military Commanders and other distinguished personages.

The Royal College Prize Giving which was formerly known as ‘Speech Day’ first took place in the year 1836 and was honoured with the presence of His Excellency the Governor Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton.

The day’s proceedings commenced with the College Song led by the Choir followed by the reading of sacred scriptures of all religions represented at Royal College. The gathering was welcomed by the Head Prefect, Senith Abeyanayake . In his speech he spoke of three fundamental principles that College is based on: holistic education, traditions and culture and equality among all irrespective of race, culture, creed or religion (view full speech here).

The first round of awards were presented by the Hon. V. S. Radhakrishnan – State Minister of Education, Hon. Gayantha Karunathilaka – Cabinet Minister of Media, Hon. Rauff Hakeem – Minister of Urban Development, Water Supply and Drainage and the Hon. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam – Minister of Education.

A number of prizes were presented by the Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Prime Minister upon his arrival. This included the felicitation of teachers who have obtained less than two days of leave in the years 2012 and 2013.

His Excellency the President was welcomed at the Navaranagahala entrance and escorted to the hall by the Principal and the Head Prefect and was followed by the reading of the blessing ”Devo Wassathu Kalena”. The presenting of the Report of the Principal, another tradition related to the Prize Giving, took place subsequently. The Report, addressed to the Head of State, contains a summary of significant academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular achievements as well as other development programmes carried out at College throughout the year. The Prize Lists and other statistics are mentioned in detail in the appendixes.

Following the reading of the Principal’s Report was the address by His Excellency the President in which he spoke of his governments’ arrangements to introduce a new national policy for the admissions of children to schools and their commitment to provide every facility available in the schools considered as ‘popular schools’, to every school in the country. The Head of State presented a number of prizes which included the prestigious Turnour Scholarship, Lalith Athulathmudali Award and the Dornhorst Memorial Prize along with the awarding of certificates to the President’s Scouts and the felicitation of Teachers with outstanding performance.

The Vote of Thanks was proposed by Mr. Athula Munasinghe, Secretary of the Royal College Union and was seconded by Mr. Rathna Sabapathy Udayakumar during which a request for a holiday for the students was made to the President. Following this the Minister of Education, Hon. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, upon instruction by His Excellency declared the 24th of June as a holiday for Royal College. The 164th Prize Giving concluded with the singing of the National Anthem.