B e g i n n i n g

                          Founded in 1930, Prince College has gone through periods of prosperityand adversity. The silver jubilee was celebrated in 1955 with the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Sir John Kotalawela, gracing this occasion as the Chief Guest at the Prize Giving held in this connection. The Golden Jubilee of this institution, regrettably has been consigned to the limbo of forgotten things, with the decline of the college.Prince college has had close connections with the Royal family of Siam( now Thailand) with the arrival in Ceylon of his Royal Highness Prince Prisdang Jumsai of siam who received ordination under the most venerable Pundit Waskaduwey Rajakeeya Sri Subati Maha Nayaka Thero. He was an erudite scholar who was well versed in English, Pali and Theravada Buddhism. The venerable thero made Ceylon his home and took up residence at Dipaduttamaramaya during the Chief Incumbency of the most venerable Mohottiwaththe Gunnananda Maha Nayaka Thero of “PANADURA DEBATE” fame, a personage who provided leadership in national matters concerning the well being of the country and the Buddha Sasana. On his demise, the Venerable Jinawarawansa Thero, who later came to be known as ‘Kumara Hamuduruwo’ among the Buddhist laity, succeeded as the chief Incumbent Monk of Dipaduttamaramaya, He built the Rathana Chithiya according to Thai Buddhist architecture and begin a scholar monk of repute, started a free Boys Buddhist English school in 1905 for the benefit of the Buddhist childred of the area. The royal Thai Family provided the necessary funds uninterruptedly for the upkeep and maintenance of the Venerable Jinawarawansa Thero and also for the running of the school. The school continued to function smoothly for some time and later became a fledgling institution. The undisturbed continuation of the school thereafter became a problem and due to circumstance beyond the control of the Venerable Jinawarawansa Thero, the school had to be closed doun after nearly a decade of existence. With the demise of the Venerable Jinawarawansa Thero his loyal and obedient pupil, the Venerable Jinawarawansa M Jinananda Thero became the new chief Incumbent Monk of Dipaduttamaramaya, It was at this time that Christian Missionary schools were springing up all around the country, with the blessings of the British rulers of the day. Buddhist children were seldom or never admitted to those schools, as their policy was to educate Christians. In a predominantly Buddhist country, this was a deplorable states of affairs and an affront to the dignity of Buddhists. 

                                                The Venerable Jinananda Thero addressed this question and decided that meaningful measures should be adopted to meet this challenge. He believed that the social upliftment of Buddhist Children through a viable English education was a crying need of the day and as a first step established a fee levying boys Buddhist English school in 1930, with 24 students and two teachers. As a mark of gratitude to his revered Guru, the Venerable Jinawarawansa Thero, he named it Prince college. Wide publicity was given to the opening of the new school and qualified teachers were recruited to the tutorial staff. Buddhist parents began to throng the premises of the school for admission of their children enabling Prince College to grow from strength to strength. For the purpose of good governance, the venerable Monk placed the school under the administration and control of the Kotahena Buddhist Educational Trust (K.B.E.T) of which he was the administrator. In this connection he drew inspiration from Sir D.B Jayatillke, the greatest Buddhist scholar of the time, the undisputed leader of the sinhala Buddhist’s and a man of great virtue. He was General Manager Theosophical Society which was running a large number of Buddhist schools Throughout the island including the prestigious Buddhist educational institutions such as Ananda,Nalanda,Dharmaraja, ect, for the preservation and propagation of the Buddha Dhamma, The K.B.E.T became a parallel organization under the leadership and guidance of the venerable JInananda Thero which administered more that 200 school in the Western Province.