Commercial Bank presents scholarships to 25 more undergrads

Twenty five Sri Lankan undergraduates have received assistance and motivation to pursue their future aspirations from the Commercial Bank of Ceylon, as part the Bank’s CSR Trust’s ‘Sarasaviyata Nawa Saviyak’ community initiative to support worthy undergraduates.

The latest scholarship presentation, the fifth such programme by the CSR Trust of the Bank, saw the disbursement of over Rs 2 million in scholarship grants.

Expanding its commitment this year, the Bank also presented laptops valued at Rs 1.8 million to each of the 25 undergraduates.

 Of the 25 undergraduates chosen for scholarships this year, 10 were from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Peradeniya, nine were from the Faculty of Management and Commerce of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and six were from the Faculty of Management and Finance of the University of Colombo. These undergraduates were mostly from outstation areas.

The chosen undergraduates studying medicine will each receive Rs 25,000 per year over the five-year period of their degree while their counterparts studying Management and Commerce and Management and Finance will receive Rs 25,000 per year over a four-year period.

Minister of Higher Education Honourable S. B. Dissanayake was the Chief Guest at the presentation ceremony. In his address, the Minister said the commitment of the Commercial Bank to higher education through this scholarships scheme is greatly appreciated by the government. Elaborating on current developments in the field of higher education, he emphasised the importance of IT education for undergraduates to bring Sri Lankan universities within the top 1000 universities in the world.

Delivering the welcome address, Commercial Bank Chairman Dinesh Weerakkody pointed out that social responsibility is as important a factor in the sustainability of business as financial performance. The Commercial Bank recognises its responsibility to lend its strength to undergraduates to help them face the challenges of becoming skilled members of the future work force of the country, he said.

Commenting on the opportunities for the future, he said the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry in India has grown to US$ 88 billion, and the challenge for Sri Lanka was to invest heavily in the training of the work force to acquire the skills to compete in the BPO space.

The scholarship awards and laptops were handed over to students by Hon Minister of Higher Education S. B. Dissanayake, Commercial Bank Chairman Dinesh Weerakkody, Commercial Bank Deputy Chairman K G D D Dheerasinghe and Chairman of the Commercial Bank CSR Trust Lakshman Hullugalle.

Recipients of this year’s scholarships were identified with the assistance of the University Grants Commission (UGC).  Being ineligible for Mahapola or any other scholarship programme, the number of attempts made at the GCE A/L examination, the number of school-going children in the family, parental income and the distance between the university and the student’s home are some of the factors that are taken into consideration in identifying recipients.

Besides financial assistance to undergraduates, the Commercial Bank also has a reward scheme for deserving younger students. All holders of the Bank’s Arunalu minors’ accounts who excel at the year 5 scholarship examination every year are rewarded with valuable cash prizes. In addition, the Bank’s CSR Trust supports the education of the country’s students through the provision of IT facilities, especially for rural schools, the primary focus of the Bank’s community interventions. To date, 32 schools in Sri Lanka have received fully-equipped computer laboratories from the Commercial Bank CSR Trust. The Commercial Bank’s CSR Trust was established in 2004 and presently focuses mainly on projects aimed at uplifting standards of IT and English education. The trust commenced with a start up capital of Rs. 25 million and the bank contributes up to 1% of its profits every year.