Hemas Piyawara opens Community Pre-School in Ambalnagar

The 86 pre-school aged children in the village of Ambalnagar saw light at the end of the tunnel as Hemas Holdings recently opened its first Community Pre-School at a cost of Rs. 2.5 million in this Northern village.  

Situated 10kms away from the Kilinochchi Town, Ambalnagar is a poor, small village comprising 1939 inhabitants. The 580 families who constitute the village migrated from the upcountry estates somewhere in the 1980s. They were displaced during the war and finally re-settled in their original village of Ambalnagar by the Government when peace dawned. Present on the occasion were Minister of Child Development Tissa Karaliyedde, Chairman Hemas Outreach Foundation Abbas Esufally, Executive Director of Hemas Outreach Foundation Shiromi Masakorala, Trustee Ms. Sue Evans and several others.

At present, this village has a large population of children requiring pre-school education. Bereft of proper facilities, the makeshift pre-schools are currently housed in temporary sheds or damaged buildings. The aim of this project is to provide facilities and encourage such communities to send their children to pre-schools. “The Piyawara Community Pre-School concept is aimed at helping communities living in remote re-settled areas. As an initial step the Community School will have two classrooms, two toilets and a tube well. This is a prototype model which has been developed with the Children’s Secretariat and conforms to the minimum standards as required by the Government.

 The building will function both as a Pre-School and also as a Community Centre, thereby enabling it to serve all members of the community. This project goes beyond bricks and mortar and takes a holistic approach to pre-school education in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile foundation stones have also been laid for two more such schools in Mullaitivu,” said Executive Director of Hemas Outreach Foundation Shiromi Masakorala,

“Setting up a Community Pre-School for a marginalised community in a remote area which is recovering from decades of conflict was a rather formidable task. We do place on record both the moral and logistical support extended to us by the Government and the Sri Lanka Army in getting this project off the ground,” said Chairman Hemas Outreach Foundation Abbas Esufally.

The post-war era saw many traumatised children in the make-shift camps at Menik Farm. This was when Hemas, together with the Children’s Secretariat, set up pre-schools and play areas to keep them occupied even under difficult circumstances. As a long term measure Hemas also built model pre-schools in the North. The first ever model pre-school was opened in Jaffna in 2011. Another model school in the pipeline is to be built in Kilinochchi city.

The first Hemas Piyawara Pre-School was set up in Kurunegala in 2002 with 02 teachers, and 22 children on roll. Today, a decade later in 2012, Piyawara spans the length and breadth of Sri Lanka with 34 pre-schools, over 100 teachers and enriching lives of over 3000 children.

Piyawara stands today as a successful initiative, a sustainable and ongoing project by Hemas and the Children’s Secretariat … demonstrating the success of government - private sector partnerships in addressing national issues and going beyond the geographical divide.