public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
university college
In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...
in
Ceylon
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
University of Ceylon
The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...
. The college was also known as University College, Ceylon; University College, Colombo; and Colombo University College. Its buildings and grounds are now occupied by the
University of Colombo
The University of Colombo (informally Colombo University or UoC) is a Public University, public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in t ...
which is considered its successor.
History
In the nineteenth century the only institutions to offer
higher education
Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education.
The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
undergraduate
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...
courses followed by external examinations for Indian or British universities. The country's elite would send their children to be educated at British universities. Demand started growing for the establishment of a university in Ceylon. The Ceylon University Association was formed in 1906 by a group of the country's elite including Ponnambalam Arunachalam, James Peiris and
Marcus Fernando
Sir Hilarion Marcus Fernando, FRCP (21 October 1864 – 18 December 1936) was a pre-independence Ceylonese statesman, physician and banker. He was a member of both the executive council and legislative council, as well as the chairman of the S ...
.Sir James Peiris (Public Life: The Ceylon University) by L.J.M. Cooray (Ourcivilisation Web), Retrieved on 28 November 2014 In June 1911
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Henry McCallum
Sir Henry Edward McCallum, GCMG (28 October 1852 – 24 November 1919) was a British colonial governor.
Biography
McCallum attended the Royal Military College in Woolwich and began his colonial service career in 1874.
He was Colonial ...
appointed a ten-member sub-committee of the
Legislative Council of Ceylon
The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of represe ...
to look into education in Ceylon. The Macleod Committee finished its work in 1912 and amongst its recommendations were that a university college be established to centralise the country's fragmented higher education system. McCallum accepted the committee's recommendations and submitted the proposals to the
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's government minister, minister in charge of managing certain parts of the British Empire.
The colonial secretary never had responsibility for t ...
and the
Board of Education
A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution.
The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...
. The proposals were sent back with questions which were in turn answered by Robert Chalmers, McCallum's successor. The college would be called Ceylon University College and would be based in the buildings of
Royal College, Colombo
Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...
. It would be affiliated to an English university, preferably the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
, and would offer general higher education including courses in arts and sciences for trainee teachers and preliminary courses in chemistry, physics and biology for medical students. The college was to be residential and
hostel
A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...
s would be provided by the government. The college was to be open to women. The college would in due course be converted into a degree-granting university. The proposals were accepted by the Secretary of State.
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and the resulting increases in prices put a halt to the project.
The project was resurrected in 1917 and provision was made in the 1917/18 budget for construction of new facilities and purchase of equipment. However, work was slow and in May 1920 the government purchased
Regina Walauwa
College House is the administrative center of the University of Colombo, situated in the Cinnamon Gardens suburb of Colombo, it is a national heritage site.Thurstan Road, for use by the college. Regina Walauwa was later renamed College House. E. B. Denham, the local director of education, decided that the college should open immediately, using College House as lecture rooms whilst the Royal College buildings were completed. Provision was made in the 1920/21 budget for the running of the college which officially opened on 24 January 1921. The college was not affiliated to the University of Oxford as originally proposed, but instead offered courses for the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
's Intermediate and Final examinations. Edwin Evans, the acting director of education, was the college's first principal. All classes were held at College House except science which was taught at Government Technical Schools. 115 students were registered at the college in its first academic year at the end of which eight students sat the University of London's examinations, seven of whom passed.
Robert Marrs succeeded the director of education as principal at the beginning of the 1921/22 academic year. The University College laboratories were opened by Governor William Manning on 1 October 1921 and the teaching of science was transferred from Government Technical Schools to the new laboratories. The Christian Hostel (Brodie House, Bagatelle Road) and Union Hostel (Guildford Crescent) were opened in October 1922 whilst the Catholic Hostel (Havelock Road) opened in November 1922. The Old Royal College Building was transferred to the college in October 1923 and teaching of arts was transferred from College House to the Old Royal College Building. A hostel for women students (Cruden, Queen's Road) opened in June 1932.
Ivor Jennings
Sir William Ivor Jennings () (16 May 1903 – 19 December 1965) was a British lawyer and academic. He served as the Chancellor (education), vice chancellor of the University of Cambridge (1961–63) and the University of Ceylon (1942–55).
E ...
became principal in 1940.
The college had always been intended to be a stepping stone to a fully fledged degree-granting university. In February 1924 the legislative council set aside Rs. 3 million for the creation of such a university. Marrs had prepared a draft university ordinance, based on the Sadler Commission, by 1925. However, the establishment of the university was delayed by disputes over its location. Ceylon University College was based on an -acre site in Colombo which was inadequate for a university. Marrs favoured a non-residential university based in Colombo. Others, including P. Arunachalam, D. B. Jayatilaka, D. R. Wijewardena and S. C. Paul, favoured Peradeniya or
Kandy
Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...
because of their climate and they had ample cheap land. Governor Hugh Clifford appointed a committee to investigate a site for the university. The committee recommended that the university should be residential and be based at Uyanawatta near Kandy. In 1927 the legislative council resolved that the university should be located in the Dumbara Valley near Kandy and requested the government appoint a commission (the Buchanen-Riddel Commission) to formulate the details. A draft constitution for the university was prepared in 1930.
The legislative council was replaced by the
State Council of Ceylon
The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It ...
in 1931, and responsibility for the establishment of the university was entrusted to the State Council's various executive committees. In 1937 the State Council approved a motion by George E. de Silva for the university to be located at Aruppola near Kandy. However, Paul and Andreas Nell argued that the site should be in Peradeniya not Aruppola, and they were now supported by Marrs. Eventually Peradeniya was chosen to be the site and it was decided the university would be residential. The Buchanen-Riddel Commission's recommendations were incorporated into the ''Ceylon University Ordinance No. 20 of 1942'' which established the
University of Ceylon
The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...