John Wright in town to promote education and cricket

Former New Zealand cricketer, captain and coach John Wright is in Sri Lanka to announce scholarships for local students to study at the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT), a New Zealand Government tertiary institute in New Zealand.

Wright, better known for his successful coaching stint of the Indian National Team between 2000 and 2005, will be announcing 25 sports and academic scholarships to be offered to students aspiring to continue their higher studies overseas.

“The John Wright Academic and Sports Scholarships provide local students excelling in sports or academia an opportunity to study at a leading institution in the field of their choice. It also gets them unparalleled experiences through their involvement with New Zealand’s local and regional sporting clubs,” said Wright.

The John Wright scholarships are offered at the Southern Institute of Technology, which is known for its academic excellence and pastoral care for international students.

SIT International Manager, Sam Mackay, said: “Even though SIT is a relatively new destination for Sri Lankan students, there are already over 40 students from Sri Lanka who are studying at SIT and doing very well.  In fact, one of the our Sri Lankan students who studied our Postgraduate Diploma in Business Enterprise is now working as a tutor in our business faculty.”  These scholarships, offered in all the disciplines by the Institute, have been open to students from India since 2010 and have now been extended to students from Nepal and Sri Lanka.  

“The John Wright scholarships were launched in 2010 in India and we are very excited to extend the scholarships to students from Sri Lanka,” said Sam Mackay. “This will be the first year we offer the scholarships to Sri Lankan students, and we have been working with several local education agencies to identify quality candidates. John will be visiting Sri Lanka to meet with potential applicants and also award the first scholarships to this year’s winners.”

John Wright will be joined by U.P. Pradeep Sanjaya, Sri Lanka’s first Paralympics bronze medalist, on that occasion.

Wright will also be conducting a two-hour cricket camp for students at the SSC Cricket Academy during his visit.

The coaching session will be conducted at the SSC grounds with Wright demonstrating batting techniques. SIT is a New Zealand Government Institute of Technology with four campuses across New Zealand. SIT has a history dating back to 1885 and offers over 160 programmes across a wide range of subjects and levels, including postgraduate study.