Saturday, 18 January 2014 00:00
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India has awarded 150 students the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship in the seventh instalment of the program, the Indian High Commission said in a statement yesterday.
Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena and Indian High Commissioner Y.K. Sinha attended the ceremony. This year is the seventh year that the Mahatma Gandhi Scholarships are being awarded. These 150 students were from each of the 25 districts on a merit-cum-means basis. As part of the scholarship, each of these students will be provided a total stipend of Rs. 48,000 spread over two years, at the rate of Rs. 2,000 per month to complete their A Level studies.
Speaking at the occasion, Education Ministry Secretary Anura Dissanayake lauded the assistance provided under the Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship Scheme to 150 meritorious and needy students from Sri Lanka.
Dissanayke noted that the prestigious scholarship has assisted several needy students to continue their studies and complete GCE Advanced level. He thanked the Government of India for increasing the scholarship amount to Rs 2,000/- per month and also the number of students by 50%, to reach 150 students from the year 2012.
Gunawardena said India has extended a helping hand to Sri Lanka on many occasions to fulfil various developmental needs.
“India has extended assistance in the education sector in a number of areas, including providing support for teachers’ training under scholarship basis in various educational institutes in India, helping Sri Lanka in curriculum development in subjects like science, mathematics, information technology, and collaborating in developing 5,000 primary schools associated with 1,000 secondary schools,” he said.
He thanked the High Commission and the Government of India for their valuable assistance and called the Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship as a blessing for Sri Lankan children.
Sinha stated that educational and cultural cooperation is an abiding feature between the two countries.
“India’s effort has been to consistently improve and strengthen these relations. Towards that endeavour, a major initiative was to nearly triple the number of scholarships offered. The recipients of the Mahatma Gandhi scholarship have excelled academically and would also hopefully show adherence to the ideals espoused by the Father of the Indian Nation. It is encouraging to note that some of the past recipients of the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship have gone on to excel in their chosen fields of study at the under-graduate level and beyond.” He expressed his conviction that these students would also spread Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of peace and non-violence.
The High Commissioner also stated that currently about 270 slots were available to Sri Lankan students for pursuing higher studies in India. India encourages the youth of Sri Lanka, for the development of whom we attach the utmost importance, to take full advantage of these scholarships offered every year.
