Prestigious Mahatma Gandhi Scholarships, provided by the Government of India, were awarded to 300 Advanced Level school students from all 25 districts across Sri Lanka earlier this week.
The scholarships were awarded by Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay, Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha and State Minister of Education Aravindh Kumar at a special ceremony held at the Ministry of Education on Thursday (May 18).
In a media release, the Indian High Commission said an amount of LKR 2,500 per student is provided to Advanced Level students on merit cum means basis to the top six students from each district every month under this scholarship.
This year, scholarships were awarded to two batches simultaneously due to COVID during the year 2021 - 2022.
Congratulating students for their achievements, the Indian high commissioner stressed the importance of bilateral cooperation in education sector for the bright future of youth in both the countries.
Drawing parallels between The Buddha and Mahatma, he stated that the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi hold good even in the fast-changing world.
Underlining the close cultural links between India and Sri Lanka, he called on the young students to utilize the opportunities available in India, where rapid advances are taking place in the field of education.
The Indian envoy expressed confidence that the young students of Sri Lanka would be a great source of strength for both India and Sri Lanka in future.
Minister Premajayantha thanked Government of India for providing not only Mahatma Gandhi Scholarships, but also various other Scholarships and opportunities in prestigious institutions including IITs.
He said that these initiatives proved to be instrumental to the growth of Sri Lanka’s Human Resource. The minister also paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi for his ideas and thoughts about education. Further, he expressed gratitude to Government of India for extending support for text book printing in Sri Lanka for school children.
Apart from Mahatma Gandhi scholarships, Government of India offers around 210 scholarships annually in various fields including Engineering, Technology, Arts, Science, Indigenous medicine etc. to Sri Lankan students.
More than 400 fully paid Scholarship slots are also available under ITEC scheme for Government officials in Sri Lanka to enhance their domain knowledge. In addition, thousands of seats are also available to Sri Lankan students in India under “Study in India” programme, the Indian High Commission said further in its statement.
