Bhathiya Barukanda
President Ranil Wickremesinghe reaffirmed his unwavering commitment to advancing Buddhist education in Sri Lanka, regardless of the challenges faced.
He made this declaration during a scholarship award ceremony held at Temple Trees today (24th). At the ceremony, 3,000 scholarships were awarded to assist student monks, Seela Mathas at Piriven and Seela Matha Educational Institutions, and lay students across the country. This was part of the “Presidential Scholarship Program” 2024, organized by the President’s Fund under the directives of the President.
Scholarships are being offered to student monks studying up to the Piriven (Ordinary Level), Seela Matha, and lay students studying up to G.C.E. (Ordinary Level). An amount of Rs.9, 000 has been directly credited to the accounts of these students, along with the outstanding instalments and future payments will be made monthly in instalments of Rs.3, 000.
Additionally, Rs. 6,000 per month will be awarded to student monks, Seela Matha, and lay students who pass the Piriven (Ordinary Level)/G.C.E. (Ordinary Level) exam and precede to the Piriven Pracheena or G.C.E. (Advanced Level) exams, up until the month they take the exam. Scholarships are to be awarded for a period of 24 months, and Rs. 18,000 was credited to each scholarship recipient’s account on the day of the scholarship ceremony, including outstanding instalments.
Instalment payments will be directly deposited into the bank accounts of other scholarship recipients who were not able to attend the ceremony in the near future.
All scholarship recipients have been selected with the full cooperation of each Piriven Parivenadhipathi Thero or Institute Director, with all activities supervised by the Pirivena Education Division of the Ministry of Education.
The President’s Fund allocates nearly Rs.300 million annually for this scholarship program.
