Product Code Database
Musaeus College is a Buddhist private girls' school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The school is named after its founding principal, Marie Musaeus Higgins, who served as the school's principal from 1891 to 1926. Musaeus College provides primary and secondary education to more than 6,500 girls from ages 3 to 18, and is managed by a board of trustees. The school's motto is "Follow the Light".
Olcott issued an advertisement in The Path, the magazine of the Buddhist Theosophical Society, for recruitment of a new principal. Marie Musaeus Higgins, daughter of Theodor Musaeus, then Chief Justice of Wismar in Mecklenburg, Germany followed the advertisement and joined the school on 15 November 1891. 'Sudu Amma' starts a school for Buddhist girls Sunday Times Online 12 November 2006 accessed 25 September 2011
Teachers’ Training School
A training college for teachers begun in 1908 with the approval of the Government. The college began sending out annually a number of trained teachers as Head-Mistresses of Buddhist Sinhalese Girls’ Schools, situated out of Colombo. The training college had a practicing school attached to ir where children in the neighborhood received free education in Sinhalese.
Higgins’ historical studies induced her to study Buddhism. In the later years of her life, she was engaged in the task of compiling books on Buddhism. “Poya Days” and “Jataka Mala” (a translation of the Jataka Stories) are two of her popular books. Higgins had planned to issue a series of plays called “Ceylon Historical Plays”. She published one or two of them and they were acted out under her own supervision by the girls of Musaeus College. Her simplicity of style had a special appeal to children.
As a social religious worker, Higgins was held in high esteem. Her life was entirely devoted to the cause which she represented. In later years, the climate of Colombo did not agree with her and during the greater part of the year she lived at “Musaeus Cottage”, Diyatalawa. Later she gave up the principalship of the school and become the director. At the time of her death, Miss. Schneider, her niece who arrived from Germany, was personally looking after her, and was by her bedside when she died at the age of 71 in 1926, after 33 years of service.
‘Founder-Father’ of Musaeus
Peter De Abrew was one of the pioneers of the Theosophical Society of Ceylon. De Abrew became actively involved in the movement started by Olcott and others towards the regeneration of the nation, together with his father, William de Abrew. William himself was a member of this movement. They donated their own land to build a Buddhist Girls’ School. Higgins and de Abrew started their school in 1891, in a little thatched mud-walled hut where Musaeus stands now.
In 1940, Peter De Abrew died at the age of 78.
The school motto has always been "පදීපං ගවේසථ" (pronounced: "padeepang gavae satha") which translates to "Follow the light" in English. Higgins gave the motto so that Buddhist girls attending the college will always be focused, following the "path of light" or words of wisdom given by The Buddha while being moulded into educated young ladies during the girls' time in college.
School anthem
After the school was founded in 1891, a school anthem was first composed in 1893. This anthem: "what joy to sing Lord Buddha's praise" was sung in English. Later as years' passed by, the anthem was translated to Sinhala as "නමදිමු මියුසියස් විදුහල් මවුනි" (Translation: let us worship mother Musaeus; pronounced: Namadhimu Musaeus Widhuhal Mawuni) by Sri Lankan poet Madawala S. Rathnayake. The music was composed by Pandit W. D. Amaradeva. The anthem is still sung by Musaeites, in praise of their alma-mater and the school's founder, Higgins.
Prefectorial system
School prefect are awarded to senior and outstanding personalities in all three sections: The Primary (Grades 1–5), Middle School Section (Grades 6–8) and the Senior Section (9-13).
| About 30 students are chosen out of about 450 Grade 5 students at the beginning of the academic year. |
| About 30 students are chosen out of about 450 Grade 8 students at the beginning of the academic year. |
| About 50 students are chosen out of about 450 Grade 12 students at the beginning of the 3rd Term (around September) |
| When New Senior Prefects are appointed, an Honorary Prefectship is awarded to the Head Prefect, Deputy Head Prefect, and the Four House Captains of the previous year's Senior Prefects' Guild who will be leaving their positions. |
All prefects are expected to support the college by completing the assigned duties and by taking charge of discipline of other students in their respective sections. They are entitled to wear the badges on daily basis during their time of appointment.
| 1893 – 1926 |
| 1926 – 1928 |
| 1928 – 1930 |
| 1930 – 1947 |
| 1946 – 1947 |
| 1948 |
| 1948 – 1954 |
| 1954 – 1959 |
| 1959 – 1962 |
| 1963 – 1972 |
| 1972 – 1980 |
| 1980 – 1981 |
| 1981 – 1994 |
| 1995 – 2008 |
| 2009-2017 |
| 2017 - 2023 |
Special emphasis is given to the teaching of English language. English medium classes are conducted from Grade 4 up to Advanced Level classes. The teaching programme includes training in speech, in addition to courses prescribed by the Ministry of Education. Students are also introduced to Literature and reading through a reading programme conducted during school hours.
| Actress | ||
| Socialist, feminist, minister, first and only female National Hero of Sri Lanka. | ||
| Socialist, Member of Parliament (1948–52, 1952–56, 1956–60), second elected female Member of Parliament in Sri Lanka | ||
| Socialist | ||
| Humanitarian activist | ||
| Singer | ||
| Governor of Southern Province (2006–2015) | ||
| Academic (gender and women's studies), and Professor of English at the University of Kelaniya, Founder-director of the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Kelaniya, author | ||
| Actress, playwright, theatre director, educator | ||
| Vocalist, playback singer (1935–2019) | ||
| Member of Parliament for Ratnapura (2004–present), Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare (2015–present) | ||
| Actress | ||
|
|
