Paththunu Pitiya Maha Vidyalaya is located 5km from Nawalapitiya town, just off the  Nawalapitiya – Gampola road. A lot of these students are children who cannot afford to go into town to attend school. Majority of these children don’t even have proper houses to live in and many are raised by single parents. Due to the current crisis in Sri Lanka, families are finding it difficult to provide their children with breakfast and dinner, so the students of Paththunu Pitiya Maha Vidyalaya often go to school hungry.