Prime Grameen to power University Education

Sara PATHIRANA

Prime Grameen hopes to raise around Rs 500 million within a year with the launch of “Sip Saviya” Minor’s Account which is aimed to help power a Childs’ University Education.

Speaking to Daily NewsBusiness, Chairman B. Premalal said that they hope to raise this amount to build up their Micro Finance lending portfolio. “Our lending portfolio is very strong and during the last 18 months we raised Rs eight billion. We are also strong in the micro finance sector in the north-east and have lent nearly 30% of this to rural areas and also extended credit to over 400,000 women,” Premalal said. This new scheme, being a first initiative in the country, is aimed to empower children by helping them fund their higher education.

There are many children who qualify for university admissions but many tend to drop out due to financial and other reasons.

Access to scholarships was limited and even currently scholarships were not enough to fully cater to those students' educational needs. Prime Grameen’s aim was to steer away from those issues by filling the void in the education system and provided this specialized minor savings tool to give the opportunity to the majority of students who can continue their university education without having to worry about going through any issues financially on a single deposit of Rs 5,000 and after a period of maturity, a monthly return of Rs. 10,000 is ensured continuously for three years during the time of the Child’s university education.

In case of a situation where the student fails to secure a university entry, they can collect the interest earned throughout the years and benefit from it. This radical saving’s tool will encourage more and more children to become qualified future professionals.