History of Zahira College

The story of Zahira is akin to the triumph of the human mind over all obstacles.

The idea for a school mainly for Muslims was conceived by prominent individuals at the time, such as Proctor M. C. Siddi Lebbe, A.M. Wappiche Marikar, I.L.M. Abdul Aziz, and Orabi Pasha. Their need materialised into the conception of Al-Madrasathul Zahira, founded in 1892 with 35 students on roll.

There are only a few schools which are over 100 years in its existence and certainly, Zahira is one of them with a heritage of 130 years. Years later, the name Al-Madrasathul Zahira was changed to the present name “Zahira” which means “Excellence”, in Arabic.

Under the charismatic leadership of Mr. M. Fouzul Hameed who took over as Chairman of the Board of Governors in 2006, a well-coordinated and systematic programme to improve the infrastructure and development, as well as look into the upliftment of the standards of education, sports, and extracurricular activities within the Islamic environment of the College, was methodically executed with commendable success.

Now we have a strength of over 5500 students studying in all three language mediums, with a staff strength of nearly 300. Academic excellence has only been flourishing in the last 10 years or so. Master Mohammad Ammar attended the Grade 5 scholarship examination in Sinhala medium and scored 200 out of 200 at the Grade Five Scholarship exam in 2020. Another student scored 176 marks in the Sinhala medium.

At the A/Ls, our overall pass percentage is nearly 70% with 10 students obtaining 3 A’s. 36 Zahirians were selected to State Universities based on the cut-off marks for GCE A/L 2021.

Over the years the College has excelled within the academic sphere as well as in co-curricular activities and produced many intellectuals and prominent personalities who have served the community and the country.

The principal, Mr. Triizvy Marikkar, has taken a keen interest to improve the standard of education at all levels and has been striving hard to make Zahira one of the best-ranked schools on the island.

Looking back at the long march of 130 years at Zahira College, we are proud that the visions and aspirations of the Founders were not in vain. We have rediscovered an emergence of an educational renaissance at Zahira.