Allocation of 4 billion for educational scholarships from the President’s Fund (Video)

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has pledged to create a better country for the children of Sri Lanka within the next 5-10 years. Speaking at the ceremony for awarding Presidential scholarships at Temple Trees on the 19th, the President reiterated his commitment to ensuring that no child in the country will suffer, with a focused effort on resolving the economic crisis within two years.

The President highlighted the implementation of several programs aimed at supporting the people and securing the future of the children:

Aswasuma Program: Designed to provide income support to the people.
Urumaya Program: Implemented to secure land rights.
Presidential Education Scholarship Program: Launched to ensure educational opportunities for children.
Presidential Education Scholarship Program
For the academic year 2022 (2023), the program will select 60 G.C.E. Advanced Level students from each of the 100 education zones, totaling 6,000 students. Each student will receive LKR 6,000 per month for two years, starting from March 2024, to support their G.C.E. Advanced Level studies.

Furthermore, a scholarship program for students from grade 1 to grade 11 is being implemented across all 10,126 schools in the island. Scholarships will be allocated based on student enrollment, with each school receiving a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 22 scholarships. Starting from April 2024, 100,000 students will receive educational scholarships amounting to Rs. 3,000 per child per month for 12 months, funded by the President’s Fund.

Ceremony Highlights
During the ceremony, 5,108 students were symbolically awarded scholarships. President Wickremesinghe personally interacted with the scholarship recipients, inquiring about their backgrounds and achievements.

Addressing the ceremony, President Wickremesinghe said:

“Today marks a joyous occasion for the children of our nation. Congratulations to all of you on receiving these scholarships. A total of 100,000 scholarships have been awarded through this program, including a LKR 6,000 for G.C.E. Advanced Level students. To support these initiatives, we have allocated LKR 4 billion from the President’s Fund.

The past three years have been challenging for all of us. We faced hardships, shortages of food, and difficulties in providing transportation for children to attend school. However, those times are now behind us. As President, I have made a commitment to ensure that no child in this country suffers. Consequently, we swiftly implemented necessary economic recovery programs to restore our nation’s stability.

We have initiated essential programs to steer the country away from bankruptcy, with the goal of creating a better future for our children within the next 5-10 years.”