Educationist Kumari Hapugalle Perera no more

Kumari Hapugalle Perera, former Executive Director of Alethea Group of Schools and past-Chairperson of The International Schools of Sri Lanka, passed away this week.

Perera, an alumnus of Bishop’s College and grandchild of Alethea founder Kathrin Hapugalle, comes from a family of prestigious educationists. Perera herself has impeccable qualifications in education, and had an Executive Diploma in Business Management from the University of Colombo, an MBA from the University of Wales, and completed a course in Early Childhood Education from Haifa University. 

She was involved in Alethea from the beginning, joining when her father was Managing Director of the school, but proved herself from the lowest level where she even painted the school furniture in the start of her career in the school. 

As she continued to excel in her teaching career, she was made Managing Director of Alethea in 1998. In this position she made important changes in how the school functioned, leading infrastructure developments to improve facilities for students and increasing the number of students from 250 to 1,000 during her tenure.

As a pioneering woman entrepreneur she was awarded the Merit Certificate by the Women’s Chamber of Industries and Commerce in appreciation of her skills and dedication to Alethea. She leaves behind a lasting impact on the school she led, her past pupils and education in Sri Lanka.  

She is survived by her husband Kavan and her children Anitra and Sashien among others. The remains will lie at Alethea Dehiwala from 9 a.m. on 27 November to 3 p.m. on 28 November. The cortege will leave for the Borella General Cemetery at 4 p.m. on 28 November. 

The family asks those wishing to express their condolences to avoid bringing flowers, but instead, to make a donation to a charity of their choice in her memory if they wish to do so.