A special ceremony to recognise outstanding students in the North Western Province who excelled at the 2023/2024 G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination was held last day(26) at the North Western Provincial Council Auditorium. The event was organised under the President’s Fund. It took place under the patronage of Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Ananda Wijepala and Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government A.H.M.H. Abayarathna.

The programme aimed to appreciate students who demonstrated exceptional academic performance at the district level in the 2023 and 2024 G.C.E. Advanced Level Examinations. During the ceremony, 240 students from the Kurunegala and Puttalam Districts, who secured positions from 1st to 10th in six subject streams, were each awarded scholarship grants of Rs. 100,000 and certificates of recognition. A total of Rs. 24 million was allocated for this purpose through the President’s Fund.

Delivering the welcome address and outlining the objectives of the initiative, Roshan Gamage, Senior Additional Secretary to the President and Secretary of the President’s Fund, emphasised the importance of recognising young talent and fostering academic excellence.

Addressing the students, Minister Ananda Wijepala stated that recognising and encouraging academically gifted students is a crucial step towards nurturing the strong leadership that the nation requires. He commended the President’s Fund for implementing this highly valuable and commendable programme.

The Minister further noted that the President and the Government remain fully committed to creating a country fit for future generations to live in. Highlighting the Government’s focus on protecting the nation’s youth, he announced that a comprehensive national operation aimed at safeguarding children from the drug menace will be launched on the 30th of this month.

He added that the Government is determined to ensure the social protection of every child without exception, revealing that 17,000 highly vulnerable children have already been identified and are currently being monitored under special protection measures.

In his address, Minister Abayarathna observed that the President’s Fund, which was once limited to a few privileged beneficiaries, has now, under the present administration, evolved into an institution that is closer to the people and works for their benefit.

He further remarked that every parent in this country carries the dream of enabling their children to achieve what they themselves could not, and reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to doing everything possible to make those dreams a reality.

Among those who graced the occasion were Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Namal Karunaratne, Deputy Minister of Women and Child Affairs Namal Sudarshana, North Western Province Governor Tissa Warnasuriya and Members of Parliament Dharmapriya Dissanayake, Wijesiri Basnayake, and Jagath Gunawardana. Also present were the Chief Secretary of the North Western Province, the Kurunegala District Secretary, the Provincial Education Secretary, other government officials, scholarship recipients, and their parents.

 (PMD)