Govt. expands shoe voucher program to support over 800,000 students countrywide

Wednesday, 22 January 2025 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Government has decided to expand its shoe voucher program to benefit around 822,300 schoolchildren, student monks and lay students across the country in 2025.

The initiative, originally launched in 2015 to provide footwear to economically disadvantaged students, will now include new groups of beneficiaries, furthering the program’s reach and impact.

The Cabinet of Ministers at their meeting on Monday approved the proposal presented by the Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, who also serves as the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education. Under the program, eligible students will receive a gift voucher worth Rs. 3,000 to purchase a pair of shoes. The initiative aims to address the needs of students studying in remote areas, those in estate schools and individuals in schools catering to children with special needs.

The program’s implementation for the year 2025 will follow recommendations from a committee of appointed officers tasked with ensuring that the aid reaches the intended beneficiaries.

A total of 650,000 students from 6,000 schools with less than 250 students each will benefit, alongside 140,000 students in estate schools that fall outside this category. Additionally, 2,300 students from 28 schools for children with special needs, as well as 30,000 student monks and lay students from selected Piriven and Seela Matha institutions, will be included in the program. “By addressing the basic requirement of proper footwear, the program helps remove barriers to education, particularly for children in economically marginalised areas,” Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said at the post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday.

Since its inception, the shoe voucher initiative has aimed to provide essential support to students from underserved communities. The inclusion of Piriven student monks and lay students in 2020 marked a significant expansion, recognising the specific needs of these educational institutions.

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