The Colours Award Ceremony of Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya was held recently.
However, this is about an ugly incident that took place during what should have been a respectable school event.
The student shown below, Chanithma Sinaly, has over the past years brought great pride to her school by winning achievements in various sporting events. (If you doubt this, simply Google her name.)
Unfortunately, because she was unable to attend the rehearsal held on the morning of the Colours Night, the principal of Sirimavo Vidyalaya decided not to hand over her award to her. This is an extremely disgraceful act. The reason she could not attend the rehearsal was because she had an examination scheduled at the same time.
According to Chanithma and the information I found, she served as the School Sports Captain in 2023. She did not earn these honors for nothing. She has worked for years to achieve them. In 2022, she was even selected to represent Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Games, where she advanced all the way to the final round. (If I start listing her achievements, it would take a long time—so I won’t go into detail.)
This is the talented student to whom Dr. Sumeda Jayawardena, the principal of the school, refused to give an award—simply because she did not attend the rehearsal.
Back when we were in school, students were never publicly humiliated on stage at Colours Night for missing rehearsals. Teachers have no right to do such things anyway.
But that is not the most important point.
What Principal Sumeda seems to have forgotten is this: we are the new generation. This child belongs to the new generation. Perhaps she assumed that when faced with such injustice, the student would remain silent and accept it quietly. That is where she was wrong.
Chanithma walked onto the stage and openly spoke about the injustice, loud enough for the entire school to hear. Standing in front of the whole school, she courageously spoke up about what was done to her. Even when the principal, visibly shaken, tried to stop her by sending assistants, Chanithma stood her ground fearlessly. Today, because of her voice, the entire country has become aware of this injustice.
This is the new generation. This is Gen Z. This is who we are.
We do not stay silent, waiting for someone else to speak for us.
We speak.
We raise our voices.
We do everything we can for justice.
Chanithma’s response to being belittled by the principal of Sirimavo Vidyalaya is admirable. It deserves appreciation.
Now her part is done.
What remains is the responsibility of the authorities.
The Ministry of Education and all relevant responsible institutions must intervene immediately. A fair investigation is required.
If it is proven that this student was treated unjustly, appropriate action must be taken against those responsible.
If this is truly the situation, principals with such harmful mental attitudes should not even be kept in the teaching service—they should be sent home.
I’ll say it again:
That girl is amazing.
That girl’s personality is amazing.
Hats off!! ❤️
