28 March, 2024

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Royal Institute: Kids Suffer As ‘War Veteran’ Kamal Gunaratne’s Thuggery Continues

Parents of children studying at the Royal institute, the International School of Higher Education which operates six branches in Sri Lanka, have complained that with the introduction of retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne as the school’s Director of Administration, both parents and children have now been subjected to torture at the hands of the country’s war veteran.

Several parents when contacted by Colombo Telegraph submitted a dossier of documentation and complained that the school besides filing bogus police complaints against a set of parents also went on to humiliate its children, in its own school premises and also unethically terminated some for non-payment of school fees on time.

This letter sent by the school to parents dated 2014, stated that school fees will be increased bi-annually by only 12%.

A parent whose child is a current student and wished to remain anonymous said, “The school which acquired the services of the retired war veteran Major General Kamal Gunaratne utilizes his services to intimidate us parents, especially when we delay in paying school fees. Gunaratne in return also used his brother A.S.P Amith Gunaratne Director of 119 services and who is attached to the Mirihana Police station to intimidate us. This is when the school made a bogus entry at the Mirihana Police Station and hauled four parents in for an inquiry. Actually the school here is at fault as they keep unethically increasing the school fees every year by huge proportions. There is no proper school fee structure. The fees sky rocketed from Rs 37,000 to Rs 63,000 for some grades such as year 8 and year 9. It was only in 2014 that the school issued a letter stating that only a 12% increase will take place bi-annually. But that practice never happened. The school hiked up the fees in 2016, 2017 and once again in 2018.”

Most of the issues parents faced began in September 2018. This is when the school fees were yet again increased leaving many parents perplexed. However a group of over 250 parents signed a petition and submitted it to the Chairman G.T. Bandara opposing the increase of school fees.

Some parents then visited the office of the school and spoke to its Principal at its Nugegoda Branch to explain their displeasure. This was as the Royal Institute did not maintain consistency with its school fee increase among all of its branches.

However the very next day four parents were summoned by the Mirihana Police Station based on a bogus complaint made by Royal Institute, that a set of parents had threatened its Nugegoda Branch Principal the previous day.

One of the parents who were summoned to the Police Station said, “This was all part of an orchestrated plan. Whilst we were summoned to the Police Station we did not know that over 60 of our children were hauled out of their class rooms for non-payment of school fees and detained in two different rooms. They were deprived from attending classes the entire day. Retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne who usually occupies the branch office at Havelock Park, visited the Nugegoda Branch with 10 private security guards all dressed in black outfits. They looked more like mercenaries and bouncers that are usually used at night clubs. When we were informed about it we dialed 119 and complained to the Police Service. We did not know that the war veteran Gunaratne’s brother himself was the Director of 119 services. A Police bike visited the school and went away. They did nothing to heed our call of plea. We then made an entry in the crimes against Women and Children branch of the Mirihana Police Station. Shortly thereafter over 15 children who were subjected to this cruel torture of incarceration visited the Police Station and provided statements regarding the cruelty meted out to them that day. Also around 14 parents filed entries with the Police regarding this matter”.

Most parents are of the opinion that it is incorrect of the school to recruit a war veteran to conduct a civilian role as such as this, especially in the corporate school sector when dealing with kids. Some feel that especially after a prolonged war that the war veteran served in, he ought to be sent for counseling to undo the mental trauma he himself has faced.

“These are our own Sinhala kids that he is harassing in this manner. They are not LTTE terrorist child brigade soldiers. This is a school and he has now made this his own battle ground. He must wake up. The war is over. It is almost ten years since it ended. His crimes committed during the final stages of the war must be definitely investigated, because if he is behaving like this now, I can imagine how he must have behaved during the last stages of the war” another parent said.

Entries made by parents with the Mirihana Police Station regarding the Royal Institutes’ incarceration of their children for non payment of school fees in October 2018

Earlier in December 2016 the Retired Major General Gunaratne was also in the news for assaulting a child from D.S. Senanayake College in full public view. The student subsequently filed an entry at the Cinnamon Gardens Police Station bearing number CIB2-345/154 where he went onto state that Retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne had held him by his neck and assaulted him and also said, “Do you know who I am? I will break your bones”

The crisis faced by parents of children at Royal Institute is enormous. They have got no one to turn too. The Ministry of Education when contacted by them state the Royal Institute is an International School and does not come under their purview. Others say that even though it is an international school it is in fact a private business run by its businessman / Chairman G.T. Bandara. They also cannot turn to the Law Enforcement Authorities, as the Police Station that comes under the school’s jurisdiction in Nugegoda at Mirihana is manned by the Retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne’s brother, who incidentally is a high ranking Police Officer attached there.

Meanwhile two parents speaking to Colombo Telegraph voiced their displeasure as they were forced to remove their children from Royal Institute. This is for the delay in making school fees payment for the current term January to April 2019, which incidentally in yet in progress. (By Janaka Ranaweera)

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Latest comments

  • 15
    2

    I think that first those should be punished who hire such thugs and specially when a education institute hire such people It’s not a good sign and the parent should take immediate action against it or the most wise step would be to immediately take the child out of such institute for the safety of the child.

  • 10
    5

    If you can not pay bills, Its better not to seek such type of tuition for your kids. What SL need is well disciplined citizens and not rowdies who agitate keeping the error on their own hands.

  • 7
    0

    It is high time that the government intervenes and bring about some legislation to protect the children of Sri Lanka from predators such as those indicated in this report. As a matter of fact, the ministry of education should oversee such private schools follow the procedures covering a common curriculum set forth for schools in the country and the credentials of teaching staff etc., etc.. Then, the government also has a responsibility to see to financial malpractice by unscrupulous operators of such schools at the cost of parents that barely manage to make a living income but try their best to give a decent education to their children. Whatever is said and done, at the end the government has to step in and set guidelines those are common to all privately operated schools in the country. It is wrong if the government keeps quiet while the rogues steal the futures of our children.

    If the govt cannot, then that animal who manhandled a innocent kid should be severely dealt by whoever could do so. The IGP needs to wake up and take appropriate action about the tyranny of the senior police officer at Mirihana police station by at least transferring him from Nugegoda to elsewhere, so that tyrant brother of this man at the school will not harass parents of this school.

  • 3
    0

    It is high time that the government intervenes and bring about some legislation to protect the children of Sri Lanka from predators such as those indicated in this report. As a matter of fact, the ministry of education should oversee such private schools follow the procedures covering a common curriculum set forth for schools in the country and the credentials of teaching staff etc., etc.. Then, the government also has a responsibility to see to financial malpractice by unscrupulous operators of such schools at the cost of parents that barely manage to make a living income but try their best to give a decent education to their children. Whatever is said and done, at the end the government has to step in and set guidelines those are common to all privately operated schools in the country. It is wrong if the government keeps quiet while the rogues steal the futures of our children.

    If the govt cannot, then that animal who manhandled a innocent kid should be severely dealt by whoever could do so. The IGP needs to wake up and take appropriate action about the tyranny of the senior police officer at Mirihana police station by at least transferring him from Nugegoda to elsewhere, so that tyrant brother of this man at the school will not harass parents of this school.

  • 0
    0

    It is high time that the government intervenes and bring about some legislation to protect the children of Sri Lanka from predators such as those indicated in this report. As a matter of fact, the ministry of education should oversee such private schools follow the procedures covering a common curriculum set forth for schools in the country and the credentials of teaching staff etc., etc.. Then, the government also has a responsibility to see to financial malpractice by unscrupulous operators of such schools at the cost of parents that barely manage to make a living income but try their best to give a decent education to their children. Whatever is said and done, at the end the government has to step in and set guidelines those are common to all privately operated schools in the country. It is wrong if the government keeps quiet while the rogues steal the futures of our children.

    If the govt cannot, then that animal who manhandled a innocent kid should be severely dealt by whoever could do so. The IGP needs to wake up and take appropriate action about the tyranny of the senior police officer at Mirihana police station by at least transferring him from Nugegoda to elsewhere, so that tyrant brother of this man at the school will not harass parents of this school.

    JayawaaaaayWa

  • 2
    0

    Seeing the attachments in the above report, I am surprised to note the tactics employed by the so called Chairman/ Managing Director Mr. G.T. Bandara to intimidate the parents who may be challenged in the knowledge of English language, by writing to them in English, yet with some grammatically incorrect phraseology. Shame on you Mr. Bandara (Sirrrrr!)

  • 7
    1

    This institute is a piece of shit. They can’t maintain there teachers so now they hire “unstable” war veterans. This is not a battlefield it’s a school where the parents have paid money for there children to have a better education and a pleasant time in their lives.

  • 4
    0

    this is the end of this institute. it is not a military school.
    dayal

  • 3
    1

    Did ‘The Royal Institute’, the International School of Higher Education, flaunt their rich, nouveau riche and influential clienteles by appointing retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne as the school’s Director of Administration?
    And that too after, in full public view, he mercilessly assaulted a child for quarrelling with his child, both from D.S. Senanayake College.
    .
    Or is it because Kamal is broke?
    .
    The following comment in the article by a distraught parent is noteworthy ~”………..His crimes committed during the final stages of the war must be definitely investigated, because if he is behaving like this now, I can imagine how he must have behaved during the last stages of the war”.

  • 0
    0

    I am surprised to hear this story. Both my children did their London A Levels and London LLB at RI. I found Mr. Bandara to be a very dedicated educationist and an administrator who single handedly developed this institution from very humble beginnings. It is his vision, devotion and concern for the advancement of his students that won him the admiration of the parents who were looking for a place to educate their children in the English medium at an affordable fee. Not all students at RI come from affluent backgrounds. Some parents do backbreaking jobs in the Middle East in order to give their children that extra edge in their future prospects. I have heard from others how Mr. Bandara has given many concessions to the students whose parents could not remit fees in time from abroad. I am sure they would vouch for this statement. There is always two sides to a story. Why not ask them too.

  • 1
    3

    I understand that these parents were given three reminders and a red notice before their kids were barred from school – sounds fair to me – any administrator and not just the retired General would take the same steps –
    This is just mud slinging making the General a scapegoat to cover up their own wrong doing i.e not paying the fees on time

  • 0
    0

    Back in time RI was a good recognitioned school from the island especially from education wise, sports and various other activities. We never faced any problem like these before,i also went to RI, we had the maximum fun and teachers were also quite good except a few. Some teachers stayed for a while and left school, i think our batch was the last batch (2018) who didnt face any problems like that.me personally didnt face any probs like this! They never put us into rooms they called us to the office and kindly the office lady told “son pay the fees otherwise you wont get the term test marks and papers although we allow you to do”. Hey this is an international school so yes we know we have to pay fees on time. This is all bogus and fraud whose up for putting down the schools reputation! Compared to our batch 2018, the lower batches are facing the problem and the students are also lesser than ours…education..sports also down! Dont know why! Maybe some are true some are wrong! But as a student, they offered me scholarships due to my family matter, the scholarship got cancelled due to my mischevious behaviour and i took exams as a joke i dont know about the present situation but in 2018 i/we never had problems like this

  • 0
    0

    if we are trying to do everthing but police dept with kamal gunarthna

  • 2
    0

    A parents comparison of Sinhala children viz a viz child soldier (LTTE) caught my attention. It can be any children -including former child soldier if any at RI; if the Facts are correct, Kamal G cannot behave the way as stated. May we broaden are thinking

  • 2
    0

    Recently a Coach was suspended for 2 years for punishing a player who was penalized for playing rough play and given a Red card. All bodies were quick to take action and suspend the coach.
    Why is it that a leading school boy student was assaulted by a retired military officer and even though police complain was made, nothing has been looked into?
    Is the education ministry aware of it? A complain should also be made to all foreign exam bodies regarding the harassment of parents and students and also regarding the sudden increase of school fees.
    If English is also made a National language for students to do their Sri Lanka Ordinary Level Exams of which only Sinhala & Tamil is considered, It would certainly be beneficial and could could cost much less than doing London Ordinary Level Exams where they have to cost a lot.
    Minister Over to you.
    Minister its over to you.

  • 0
    1

    English should be given same as Sinhalese & Tamil for students doing Sri Lanka Ordinary Level Examinations.
    Its OK for the rich, but it would be an option for those who find it hard to afford.
    Why is it that Ordinary Level Sinhala or Tamil be compulsory and not English ?

  • 1
    0

    GT Bandara is a remarkable individual. A strict vegtatarian, teetotaller and non smoker employing a thug man Kaml to inflict fear on parents and students is most sad. Is this the end of this most great institution?

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