John Henry de Saram: Difference between revisions

From ScoutWiki, For Everyone, Everywhere involved with Scouting and Guiding...
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Creating article for John Henry de Saram)
 
m (Adding Category)
Line 27: Line 27:
*[http://www.oldrajansscouts.org/ Old Rajans Scout Association]
*[http://www.oldrajansscouts.org/ Old Rajans Scout Association]
*[http://www.srilankascouts.org/ Sri Lanka Scout Association]
*[http://www.srilankascouts.org/ Sri Lanka Scout Association]
[[Category:Scouting and Guiding in Sri Lanka]]

Revision as of 09:27, 10 October 2013

John Henry de Saram (J.H. De Saram) (1889 - June, 1942) is the Founder of 1st Kandy Dharmaraja Scout Group and the first native Chief Commissioner of Ceylon Scout Movement from 1930 to 1942.

Early life

John Henry de Saram was born in 1889 as the eldest son of Philip Peter de Saram of Uruwela Walauwwa. He was educated at Dharmaraja College and later took to teaching at the same school.

Scouting movement

It was here that the 1st Kandy Scout Troop was started in 1913.

In 1930 Dharmaraja Scouting carried a niche in the history, when their founder Mr. J. H. de Saram was appointed as the first Native Chief Commissioner of National Scout Association. He rendered a yeoman service to the scout movement for a successful and continuous 12 years.

After his appointment to the Education Department he served in various parts of the island and realized the need for introducing scouting in rural areas. This led to scout troops being set up in many villages and estates. But it was only after he became Scout Commissioner that he embarked on one of the boldest educational adventures in the scouting world. He persuaded the government to give the association 20 acres of land off Kalutara to set up a school-cum-farm-cum-vocational training centre that would cater to the needs of youth from all walks of life. In no time, boys from every community were applying to join.

A few miles inland from the Kalutara Junction, a large area of jungle land was acquired and partially cleared. Soon roads were built & long log cabin–like dorms were put up for the pioneering community which began to grow in numbers. Boys from all walks of life were enrolled, the majority from less affluent families. Teachers were recruited and normal educational courses were conducted. In addition, what were perhaps the first vocational education training programs were started here – welding, mechanical engineering, carpentry, handicraft, art and so on.

But uniquely, the whole place was run on scout principles and every student was first and foremost a scout. This experiment was highly successful and produced young men able to face their future with optimism. In 1942 with the war getting ever closer to Ceylon it all came to an end. The Colony was taken over as the police training school. The colony was moved to Mirigama but it was never the same.

Personal life

Married with 4 children.

See also

External links