Outstanding Uva A/L Students felicitated

A ceremony to felicitate students who achieved outstanding results in the 2023/2024 GCE Advanced Level Examination, under the President’s Fund program for honoring high achievers, was held 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 outlined the program’s objectives.

Addressing the gathering, Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne stated that the present government is making a significant investment in education, emphasizing that nothing is more valuable to a nation’s future than education. He further said that if children contribute to the country through the knowledge they gain, the government’s investment will genuinely 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 is worthless. 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 Infrastructure, Mr Samantha Vidyaratne, noted that the government is pleased to support programs of this nature aimed at strengthening children’s futures, 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 nation’s children through education. The present government has taken measures to operate the President’s Fund in a more structured and decentralized manner so that qualified beneficiaries at the regional level now receive its support.

Meanwhile, a special one-day training program aimed at decentralizing the President’s Fund was held 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.