Despite Challenges, President Pledges to Maintain Commitment to Buddhist Education

President Ranil Wickremesinghe reiterated his steadfast dedication to promoting Buddhist education in Sri Lanka, despite the obstacles faced.

He made this statement at a scholarship award ceremony held at Temple Trees today (24th). During the ceremony, 3,000 scholarships were presented to support student monks, Seela Mathas at Piriven and Seela Matha Educational Institutions, and lay students nationwide. This initiative is part of the “Presidential Scholarship Program” 2024, organized by the President’s Fund under the President’s guidance.

The scholarships are provided to student monks studying up to the Piriven (Ordinary Level), Seela Matha, and lay students studying up to G.C.E. (Ordinary Level). An amount of Rs.9,000 has been directly deposited into the accounts of these students, with future payments of Rs.3,000 per month. The recipients who advance to the Piriven Pracheena or G.C.E. (Advanced Level) exams will receive an additional Rs.6,000 per month until the month of their exam. The scholarships will last for 24 months, and each recipient received Rs.18,000 on the day of the ceremony.

Other scholarship recipients who could not attend the ceremony will have their payments deposited directly into their bank accounts soon.

The selection of scholarship recipients was done in collaboration with each Piriven Parivenadhipathi Thero or Institute Director, supervised by the Pirivena Education Division of the Ministry of Education.

The President’s Fund allocates nearly Rs.300 million annually for this scholarship program.

During the ceremony, President Ranil Wickremesinghe addressed the audience with the following words;

“Today, we are introducing a new phase of the “Presidential Scholarship Program”, which now includes provisions for student monks and seela matha. We have transferred all outstanding scholarship amounts to the recipients’ bank accounts.

This scholarship program has a significant background. I don’t need to elaborate on the hardships faced by the people over the past four years due to the economic downturn. With the stabilization of the country’s economy, it is time to provide relief to the people. To this end, we have implemented various initiatives such as “Aswesuma” and “Urumaya”.

We have also introduced several scholarship programs through the President’s Fund to help talented students from low-income families continue their education. Given the country’s economic situation, monks in rural temples are also facing difficulties. We cannot allow monk education to collapse, so we have implemented this scholarship program for the monks and Seela Matha.

In focusing on the Buddhist order, we must create the necessary conditions for nurturing a new generation of monks in the country. This scholarship program represents a significant initiative by the government toward that goal. Buddhist education should be preserved and enhanced. When the Piriven system was established, I had the opportunity to support it. I must emphasize that, despite the country’s challenges, we will never abandon this responsibility.

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Ministers Susil Premajayantha, Prasanna Ranatunga, Bandula Gunawardena, MPs Vajira Abeywardena, Pradeep Undugoda, Western Province Governor, Marshal of the Air Force Roshan Gunathilake, Senior Adviser to the President on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayaka, Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake, Secretary to the Prime Minister Anura Dissanyake, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration Pradeep Yasarathne, Senior Additional Secretary to the President and Secretary to the President’s Fund W.A. Sarath Kumara were also present at the event.