Pakistan aid for school building

The Pakistan government has sponsored the construction of a three storeyed state-of-the-art school building in Gampaha district to support the development of education.

Pakistan High Commissioner Seema Ilahi Baloch handed over a cheque for the construction of the building to be established in Pasyala, Gampaha to Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat.

The school is named Babussalam Maha Vidyalaya and it comes under the purview of the education zone of Minuwangoda.

The foundation stone of the project was laid on February 9 by the High Commissioner and Minister Rajapaksa. The construction work is progressing smoothly and the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year. All efforts are being made by Sri Lankan authorities with the assistance of the Pakistan High Commission to ensure the quality of the construction and its rapid completion.

The government of Pakistan has sponsored many projects in health, education and livelihood sectors in Sri Lanka such as the Akurana district hospital, equipping science laboratories in schools, 30 computer centres and six stitching centres, providing ambulances to hospitals, Jinnah scholarships to students and scholarships to study medicine, engineering, dentistry and pharmacy in Pakistan.

The cost for the construction of the school is estimated to be Rs 49.2 million, out of which Pakistan is providing partial funding of Rs 14 million as a grant.

The newly constructed school will cater to the local population of Pasyala area. The school currently has an enrollment of over 500 students with 19 teachers.

The building would add 7200 sq.ft. of floor area to the school and it will have all modern facilities including a library, a fully equipped home science laboratory, computer laboratory and classrooms.

Addressing the ceremony, Minister Rajapaksa appreciated the support and cooperation by Pakistan.

He said that the government and people of Pakistan have always supported the government and people of Sri Lanka.

The civilizational links between the two peoples and cultures date back to 2500 years, to the time when the Indus and Gandhara civilizations and Buddhist culture had prospered in what is now Pakistan.