Following their victory at the national level, the team from Gateway College Negombo has secured a fully funded opportunity to travel to Melbourne, Australia, where they will spend a week competing at the Monash University ‘Change It Challenge’ Global Final. Representing Sri Lanka on the international stage, this achievement marks a significant milestone for both the students and the school.
The ‘Change It Challenge’ is a prestigious global competition that brings together outstanding student teams to tackle real-world issues through innovation, research, and problem-solving. This year, Sri Lanka was included in the competition for the first time at the request of Monash College and its local partner UCL.
At the national level, 22 teams competed, with five advancing to the Grand Final: Ladies’ College Colombo, Gateway College Negombo, Asian International School, Elizabeth Moir School, and Gateway College Colombo. Team ‘Milestone’ from Gateway Negombo—comprising Daishika Perera, Niduka Rupasinghe, and Netul Suriyage—emerged as National Champions with their project ‘Second Mile’, which examined infrastructure challenges in Sri Lanka, particularly gaps in reporting and accountability.
Gateway Negombo’s success highlights its growing record of international achievement. At the University of Melbourne Global Online Commerce Case Competition 2025, Team ‘BluePrint’ was ranked among the top five teams globally out of more than 100 entries. The team developed a study app designed to help students stay organised, build better habits, and reduce stress through a combination of smart tools and wellbeing support.
In another global achievement, Gateway Negombo students gained recognition at the University of Pennsylvania ‘Eco Venture Challenge’ 2025, securing fourth place among 200 international teams. Their project, the ‘Eco Coir Water Purifier’, is a low-cost and environmentally friendly filtration system that uses processed coconut coir to address oil and microplastic pollution in waterways such as the Negombo Lagoon and the Hamilton Canal.
The project aligns with the school’s Campus Monitors initiative, which promotes environmental responsibility and community engagement, while demonstrating strong potential for local application and scalability.
These accomplishments reflect the consistent quality of Gateway students, fostered within a structured and forward-looking learning environment. At its core is a culture of academic excellence and innovation, where independent thinking is encouraged and student potential is developed into high-level performance under the guidance of a dedicated academic staff.
