Scholarships to A-L students

Rasika SOMARATHNA

Scholarships would be awarded to 8,218 needy and talented students who are slated to sit for this years GCE Advanced Level examination, courtesy the President's Fund.

Rs 50 million has been allocated from the President's Fund to provide these scholarships. President Mahinda Rajapaksa handed over the scholarships to the Chief Ministers of the respective provinces at the Temple Trees Friday. The program is intended to provide financial assistance to needy and talented students, so that they can continue their studies upto the GCE A-Level and beyond.

The program has been further strengthened this year with the expectation of supplementing the President's intention of ensuring equal opportunities at education for all children.

The program covers all corners of the country with 100 scholarships being awarded to each educational zone.

The selection of scholarship recipients is based on a special scheme, which takes into account the results of the GCE O-Level exam, income level of the family, recommendations of education officials in addition to other criteria.

Applications for these scholarships had been previously called through newspaper advertisements.