COLOMbO : A ceremony to felicitate students who achieved outstanding results in the 2023/2024 GCE Advanced Level Examination, under the President’s Fund programme for honouring high achievers, was held this morning (02) at the Badulla Library Auditorium, under the patronage of Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne.
At this event, 240 students from the Badulla and Monaragala Districts who ranked between 1st and 10th place in six subject streams at the GCE Advanced Level examinations of 2023 and 2024 received certificates of appreciation and incentive awards of Rs. 100,000 each. A total of Rs. 24 million from the President’s Fund has been allocated for this purpose.
Senior Additional Secretary to the President and Secretary of the President’s Fund, Mr Roshan Gamage, delivered the welcome speech and explained the objectives of the programme.
Addressing the gathering, Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne stated that the present government is making a significant investment in education, emphasising that nothing is more valuable for a nation’s future than investment in education. He further said that if children contribute to the country through the knowledge they gain, the government’s investment will truly benefit the nation.
“We want you to become educated and wise. A wise person will never build an atomic bomb. If an educated person engages in fraud, that education has no value. In such a situation, only learning exists, not wisdom. Therefore, if you use your education for the betterment of the country, you will repay the nourishment and care your parents provided to raise you into who you are today,” the Speaker added.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Plantation and Community Insfrastructure, Mr Samantha Vidyaratne, noted that the government is pleased to support programmes of this nature aimed at strengthening the future of children, in line with the new administration’s vision. The Minister also expressed gratitude to the President’s Fund for facilitating this initiative.
He further explained that the President’s Fund was established to provide relief to those affected by poverty and to build a brighter future for the children of the nation through education. The present government has taken measures to operate the President’s Fund in a more structured and decentralised manner so that qualified beneficiaries at the regional level now receive its support.
Meanwhile, a special one-day training programme aimed at decentralising the activities of the President’s Fund was conducted yesterday (01) at the Badulla District Secretariat for officers in charge from all Divisional Secretariats in the Uva Province.
Deputy Minister of Tourism Professor Ruwan Ranasinghe, Members of Parliament Sudath Balagalla and Attorney-at-Law Sarath Kumara, Mayor of Badulla Nandana Kelumsiri Hapugoda, Chief Secretary of the Uva Province Anusha Gokula Perera, Secretary to the Uva Education Ministry Nihal Gunaratne, District Secretary of Badulla Panduka Sri Prabath Aberathna, District Secretary of Monaragala A. G. Nishantha, along with government officials, scholarship recipients and their parents were present at the occasion.
