Raja Alwis

Vidanelage Pemasiri Rajakaruna De Alwis (8 August 1951 - 27 August 1995) was a popular Sri Lankan educationist. Regarded as one of the best private mathematics tutors in Sri Lanka, he taught the subject of Pure Mathematics and Applied Mathematics to a large number of G.C.E. Advanced level students.
Early career
Raja Alwis began his teaching profession at Royal College, Colombo, since 1975. He had unique tutoring techniques that soon became popular among students. He then started teaching mathematics in "Nalandaramaya", Nugegoda, a Colombo suburb, for a small group of students. Just into a few months into the new venture, student admissions to his classes increased multi-fold, resulting in him resigning from the academic staff at Royal College, Colombo to dedicate himself to full-time tutoring.
Maths Tuition
Since the late 1970s until he died in 1995, he was tutoring G.C.E. Advanced level Mathematics to thousands of students a week,in many suburbs around Sri Lanka. The number of students in his classes continued to grow until the very last class of the G.C.E. Advanced level in 1995. The most packed class was conducted in the Rotary Hall Nugegoda, in the main hall downstairs,where he used to do lectures most days of the week. Raja also conducted classes in Wellawatte, Kurunegala and North West suburbs in Sri Lanka. Some Students travelled from as far as Katharagama (more than 200 km away from Colombo) to attend his lectures.
Pioneering ways of lessons
His pioneering ways of lessons and the marque interesting language used were ever so admired and are still affectionately remembered by students. Raja Alwis was best recognized for his exceptional talent of clearing up the most complicated of advanced mathematical theories with utter ease. There is little doubt that he was generously helped by his energetic expressions.
Total dedication and interest in teaching was a manner of his life, and thus he made sure there was nothing in the syllabus that the students found complicated to grasp. Raja's methods always paid-off. Their accomplishment was evident by many of his students achieving good grades and a large number of them gaining admission to university. Lots of students considered Raja as their liberator when it came to G.C.E. Advanced level mathematics.
Good-hearted person
On many occasions, Raja Alwis went well beyond his responsibility as a teacher to help disadvantaged students. It was well known in the student circles throughout those times that Raja Alwis even paid out of his pocket boarding fees of needy students who could not afford accommodation on their own, but who had come to Colombo from rural areas to study. Countless number of students, who were not capable to pay the tuition fees, simply didn't have to. Raja was an extremely generous gentleman who allowed them to attend his classes for free.
Death
Raja Alwis died under tragic circumstance on 27 August 1995 in New Zealand during his vacation. Even after his death, his ways of teaching Applied Mathematics had become popular among other tutors in Sri Lanka.

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