Richard Pathirana (24 February 1938 - 3 July 2008) was a

Sri Lanka 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, ...

n politician and educationist. He was the minister for education and higher education from 1994 to 2000 and the minister for state administration, home affairs and administration reforms from 2000 to 2001 in the cabinets of

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (; ; born 29 June 1945), commonly referred to by her initials CBK, is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth President of Sri Lanka, President of Sri Lanka from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. ...

Life and career

Pathirana was born on 24 February 1938 at Labuduwa, Galle. Having obtained his primary education at Maitipe Vijayaraja College, he obtained his secondary education at

Vidyaloka College Vidyaloka College is a boys' school in Galle, Sri Lanka. The school was established on 14 January 1941 by philanthropist Henry Woodward Amarasuriya under the patronage of Venerable Weliwitiye Punyasara Thera. It is a national school which accomm ...

, Galle. He graduated from the Peradeniya University and obtained his post graduate diploma from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He was married to Vijitha Pathirage and they had three children. He was a teacher by profession and his teaching career spanned over 22 years. He began his teaching career in 1958 and became a school principal in 1971. As an educationist, he did a great service for the development of Meepawala Amarasuriya Vidyalaya and Nagoda Royal College in Galle district. In 1980, he entered politics and became the Akmeemana Sri Lanka Freedom Party organiser. He was first elected to the Parliament in 1983 in the Akmeemana by-election that year. He was the chief opposition whip from 1989 to 1994 in the Sri Lankan parliament and he was the

Galle District Galle ( ''gālla distrikkaya''; ''Kāli māvattam'') is a Districts of Sri Lanka, district in Southern Province, Sri Lanka, Southern Province, Sri Lanka. It is one of 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the co ...

leader for the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP; ; ) is a centre-left political party in Sri Lanka. Founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1951, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties from the 1950s to the 2010s, serving as the main rival of the c ...

at many elections. He was re-elected to the parliament in 1994 and was appointed minister of education and higher education and chief government whip in the People's Alliance government of Chandrika Kumaratunga. He was the leader of the house i 2000 to 2001 and was the minister for state administration, home affairs and administration reforms. Later, due to ill health, he retired from politics. Pathirana died on 3 July 2008, at the age of 70. His son,

Ramesh Ramesh is a male given name among Indians. It is a contraction of a Sanskrit epithet of Vishnu, Ramesha (''Rameśa''), which is a conjugation of ''Ramā'', another name of Lakshmi, and ''Īśa'', which means power or lord. It translates to, "lord of ...

, is a current member of parliament and minister of plantation industries and eExport agriculture.

Service

Pathirana established the

Rajarata Rajarata ( (); ; meaning "King's country") was one of three historical regions of the island of Sri Lanka for about 1,700 years from the 6th century BCE to the early 13th century CE. Several ancient cities, including Tambapanni, Upatissa Nuwara, A ...

Sabaragamuwa The Sabaragamuwa Province (, , ) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka. Ratnapura is the capital of the province. History The provinces of Sri Lanka were created by the British in the 19th century, but did not have any legal status until 198 ...

and Wayamba Universities while higher education minister and increased the annual enrollments of students to local universities. He also took measures to double the allocation made for education and took the initiative to resolve the salary anomalies of Sri Lankan teachers as the education minister. Pathirana founded Siridhamma College in Labuduwa, Galle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pathirana, Richard Sri Lankan Buddhists People from Galle Ministers of education of Sri Lanka 1938 births 2008 deaths Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan educational theorists Sinhalese people Sri Lankan educators Alumni of Vidyaloka College Local government and provincial councils ministers of Sri Lanka Higher education ministers of Sri Lanka Chief Government Whips (Sri Lanka)

Life and career

Service

See also

References