Ampara district is a coastal district in Sri Lanka which is full of natural beauty. A beautiful forested village east of Ambari is Maruthamunai village. Today, this village, which has produced many academicians to the extent that our motherland admires it, is situated next to the sea under Kalmunai Pradeshiya Sabha. Due to its location along with the sea, the people of the region easily engaged in fishing. Not only that, they are making a huge contribution to the handloom weaving industry of Sri Lanka by carrying out the weaving industry. The people of this town are mostly found to be engaged in small factories and government jobs. Thus, a culturally diverse village where people from many fields live is Maruthamunai village. The boundaries of this Maruthamunai are the village of Neelavani to the north, the ocean to the east, the village of Pandiruppu to the south and the pond to the west. The nature of the land in this area is sandy soil.
Looking back at its history, one can know that Al-Hamra has the noble honor of releasing the educational pearls of Maruthamunai. Its origin dates back to 1940. Although it was raised a couple of years before 1940, the inscription here shows07.06.1940. Before this, the school was held in thatched huts. CWW who was the education minister during the British rule in 1940. Kannangara has allocated funds for the construction of a permanent building measuring72' x 20' and inaugurated it himself. It has 2 classrooms so students can study comfortably. The land for this school has been provided free of cost by Masjidul Kabeer Jumma Mosque.
During the period 1940-1941, the details related to this school cannot be known. Based on the available information, the first author is a Tamil lady named Mrs. B. Mrs. B. Vedadevi has done the duty. At that time, Tamil Muslim students studied together in this school. Then it was called "Maruthamunai Government School". In the first year there were 59 students and one teacher.
In 1945 Mrs. Krubainayaki, Mrs. N. Ponnaiya two teachers are on duty. The student strength at that time was 156.Tuition has not kept pace with the increase in students. During this period, a well was built for the school’s drinking water needs, but within a very short time it could not be usedgone.AE in 1947. William served as headmaster and the first male teacher. During his time, he worked as a free lunch. Milk and bread were provided. He has been here for a year.
In 1948, K. Thillaiyambalam assumed the leadership. There were 4 teachers and 234 students here. Unlike others, he worked for 10 years. During this period students were seen to be more interested in studies and involved in extracurricular activities. He retired 1958.
Subsequently it was renamed as Al-Hamra College. K.M. Samsudeen created various projects and saw success in them and retired on 03.03.1965 after serving for 7 years.
After him, AA Rahim was appointed as the headmaster. During his time, this school was a little down, so on 1968.05.01, this school was opened by Z. Zainulabdeen took charge. He increased the number of students to 217 and the number of teachers to 08. He managed for 2 years and retired at the end of 1969.
During this period, the head teacher system was changed and in 1970 M.M. Ismail became its principal. He thought about how to improve this school and found that the best way to do that is the help of the public, public institutions and politicians.
