Year 5 schols upped this year

Dharma Sri Abeyratne

COLOMBO: The Education Ministry has made arrangements to increase the number of Year 5 Scholarships this year in the wake of a five per cent increase in those who have passed the exam, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha said yesterday.

Accordingly, the Education Ministry has taken steps to increase the number of scholarships from 10,000 to 15,000 from 2008.

Having discussed with the Treasury, the Education Ministry has already put forward a Cabinet paper aiming to cover the excess amount, the minister said.

More students will get the opportunity to get entrance to popular schools under this system, the Minister said. He said 23,132 students will get admission to popular schools this year and 33,894 students next year.

"The more we increase the number of scholarships, the more students get the opportunity to attend popular schools. Unless the number of scholarships is increased, 10,000 additional students will not get admission to popular schools," the Minister said.