Consulate General of India
Jaffna

Press Release

At a ceremony organized at the Ministry of Education at  Colombo  on 16 January 2014, 150 meritorious students were awarded the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship in the presence of Hon. Bandula Gunawardena, Minister of Education and H.E. Mr.Y.K. Sinha, High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka. The ceremony was attended by senior officials of the Education Ministry, Principals of leading schools and parents of selected students.

2.     2014 is the seventh year (since 2006) that the Mahatma Gandhi Scholarships are being awarded. These 150 students were from each of the 25 districts on a merit-cum-means basis. As part of the scholarship, each of these students will be provided a total stipend of Rs. 48,000/- spread over two years, at the rate of Rs. 2,000/- per month to complete their A Level studies.

3.     Speaking on the occasion, Mr. AnuraDissanayke, Secretary Education, lauded the assistance provided under the Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship Scheme to 150 meritorious and needy students from Sri Lanka. Mr. Dissanayke noted that the prestigious scholarship has assisted several needy students to continue their studies and complete GCE Advanced level. He thanked the Government of India for increasing the scholarship amount to Rs 2,000/- per month and also the number of students by 50%, to reach 150 students from the year 2012.

4.     The Minister of Education, Hon. BandulaGunawardena, said that ties between India and Sri Lanka were initiated several centuries ago . He stated that India has extended a helping hand to Sri Lanka on many occasions to fulfill various developmental needs. India has extended assistance in the education sector in a number of areas, including providing support for teachers’ training under scholarship basis in various educational institutes in India, helping Sri Lanka in curriculum development in subjects like science, mathematics, information technology, and collaborating in developing 5000 primary schools associated with 1000 secondary schools. He thanked the High Commission and the Government of India for their valuable assistance and called the Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship as a blessing for Sri Lankan children.

5.    Speaking on the occasion, HE Mr. Y.K. Sinha, the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, stated that educational and cultural cooperation is an abiding feature of our bilateral relations. India’s effort has been to consistently improve and strengthen these relations. Towards that endeavour, a major initiative was to nearly triple the number of scholarships offered. The recipients of the Mahatma Gandhi scholarship have excelled academically and would also hopefully show adherence to the ideals espoused by the Father of the Indian Nation. It is encouraging to note that some of the past recipients of the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship have gone on to excel in their chosen fields of study at the under-graduate level and beyond. He expressed his conviction that these students would also spread Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of peace and non-violence.

6.         This year saw  thirty students from  Northern Province receiving the Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship for the year 2013-15,  the details are as follows:

7.    The High Commissioner also stated that currently about 270 slots were available to Sri Lankan students for pursuing higher studies in India. India encourages the youth of Sri Lanka, for the development of whom we attach the utmost importance, to take full advantage of these scholarships offered every year. The spirit behind India’s endeavors is what Mahatma Gandhi said stated several decades ago “... education for life, education through life, and education throughout life.”

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February 2, 2014

Jaffna