Promoting fellowship among school students with music

• n All Island School Western and Eastern Band Competition to kick off on 4 May with 100 schools expected to participate

By Rashika Fazali

To promote camaraderie and skills among the school bands, Royal College (RC) in association with the Old Royalists Cadet Band Association (ORCBA) will host an All-island Schools Western and Eastern Band Competition on 4 May in honour of the late Colonel M.A.C Perera who sacrificed his life for the country during the conflict in 1996.

This all-island band competition will remember the late Colonel who also represented the college cadet band in 1986 as the Company Sergeant Major. He joined the Diyathalawa Military Academy where he was placed top of his batch and went on to win the presidential award as well. In 1988, Perera joined the Army as a Lieutenant and entered the Sri Lanka Engineers Services Regiment where he served the country for over 10 years.

RC Principal Upali Gunasekara speaking at the press briefing held at the Royal College premises said: “This is another historic moment not only for Royal College, but also for the education system in Sri Lanka. This competition is significant because this competition will bring around 100 schools that will participate in four different categories. We have only seen one or two categories before.”

He stated that this competition was organised to help develop the musical skills of young students in the country and instil discipline and motivation among them.

Supported by the Ministry of Education, the band competition will consist of four categories; Western and Eastern band categories for both boys and girls. The winning band will receive a cash prize of Rs. 100,000 with the first runner up receiving Rs. 75,000 and the second runner up receiving Rs. 50,000. The competition will be judged by nine representatives from the Ministry of Education, the three armed forces, the police and the University of Visual and Performing Arts.

Over 50 schools have already chosen to participate in the band competition stated RC Union Secretary Manju Ariyaratne. However, they expect a minimum of 100 schools to take part in this competition overall.

The ORCBA was formed with the idea of uniting the past band cadets with the Royal College Cadet Band (RCCB) and to uplift the wellbeing of both past and present members by maintaining the standards of their alma mater.