History
Ananda College was established by the Buddhist Theosophical Society. Originally it was known as English Buddhist School, describing its stated intention of providing English instruction to Buddhist students who would otherwise have had to go to a missionary school in order to get an English education.
The school opened on 1 November 1886 with 37 students in a private house at No. 61 Maliban Street, Pettah. Mr. C. W. Leadbeater was the principal. In August, 1889, the school moved to a more spacious place at No. 19 Prince Street. In 1895, it was relocated to Maradana, the period of A.E. Buultjens and was named after Arahant Ananda, the most devoted disciple of the Buddha.
Today Ananda College stands to be one of the greatest Buddhist schools in Asia, with a student population exceeding 6,000 in all 13 grades of secondary education on a campus of more than 20 acres.