ABSTRACT
To a degree, it is possible to argue that the policy of British enlightenment was introduced to the Ceylonese population more by accident than design, particularly in the early years of the colonial administration. The replacement of the Dutch by the British as the colonial power in 1795 marked, a distinct shift in the nature of colonialism by the metropolitan power, and as a result, determined a gradual shift in the role of education as an imperial instrumental regulator of colonial life. The chapter presents distinct phases in the development of the educational system in Ceylon, leading to the point where it became the means of self -actualisation for certain cultural groups in colonial Sri Lanka. The origins of English-language schools in colonial Ceylon lay primarily in the work of the various Christian missionary societies that operated on the island from the early days of British colonial rule.
