Celebrating 15 years of excellence: SLIIT walks for a worthy cause

Saturday, 18 October 2014 02:56 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

More 1000 students, faculty and administrative staff from SLIIT, the largest degree-awarding institute in Sri Lanka, rallied together on 14 September to raise funds to upgrade the computer labs of six schools in the Sabragamuwa Province. Themed ‘Celebrating 15 years of Excellence’, this 5 km charity walk from Viharamahadevi Park was organised by the Student Interactive Society (SIS) of SLIIT.

“The objective of the project is to empower the youth in rural schools with computer education which will enhance their employment prospects. By investing in this vital skill, SLIIT supports the Government in reducing poverty and illiteracy in rural Sri Lanka. We have already shortlisted six schools in the Sabaragamuwa Province for this project,” SLIIT Chairman Professor Lakshman Ratnayake commented. The walk, which attracted over thousand participants, reiterated SLIIT’s commitment to mould students into socially responsible citizens.

“I take this opportunity to recognise the effort contributed by our students to make a difference in society by uplifting the quality of life of underprivileged children in Sri Lanka. In addition to academics, at SLIIT, we also focus on maintaining high standards of discipline and encouraging students to engage in extracurricular activities which will enable them to develop their talents and soft skills,” SLIIT President and CEO Professor Lalith Gamage said. Last year’s walk raised funds to provide a water purifying system for the Padavi Sripura Hospital in Mahavilachiya, a village in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. This initiative was carried out to address the Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etilogy (CKDu) that is widely prevalent in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka.