Ceylinco Life gives ‘Pranama’ schols to 154 more future leaders of Sri Lanka
A milestone with the potential to influence the futures of 154 bright young Sri Lankans was reached when Ceylinco Life presented the 19th edition of the company’s ‘Pranama’ scholarships at the BMICH recently, rewarding academic and extracurricular excellence with disbursements totalling Rs.11.5 million.
Senior academics as well as past and present recipients of these scholarships who spoke at the event acknowledged the motivational impact of the programme on the lives of beneficiaries, and through them on the community, with many past Pranama scholarship winners now serving as doctors, engineers, lawyers and accountants and in many other fields, the company said in a media release.
Chief Guest Senior Prof. S. R. D. Kalingamudali, Dean of the Faculty of Science of the University of Kelaniya, himself the winner of a Commonwealth scholarship to read for a degree in electronics at a prestigious UK university, said the true value of a scholarship depends on how it impacts the recipient and what he or she does with it.
Emphasising that learning from observing people, events and the environment is as important as learning from the prescribed texts, Prof. Kalingamudali urged the latest batch of Pranama scholarship recipients to constantly question what they see and experience, and to participate in extracurricular activities and sports. “Always ensure that whatever you do, you do it well, to the best of your ability,” he said. “It is then that you will become a valuable asset to your country.”
Ceylinco Life Managing Director and CEO Thushara Ranasinghe said the company launched the Pranama scholarships scheme in 2002 recognising the increasing burden on parents to invest money and effort in the education of their children despite the availability of free education in the country. Over the 18 years that followed, the company presented Rs.143 million in scholarships to 2,571 students, and with the 19th round of scholarships presented in 2020 that figure has now reached Rs.154.5 million, he said.
Among the highlights of the event was a speech by Dr. Sanjaya
Walawenayake, a Ceylinco Life Pranama scholarship recipient in 2007 and now attached to the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital, and a speech by medical student Amanthi Induwari Edirisinghe, who received a Pranama scholarship this year for her performance at the GCE Advanced Level examination in 2018.
Ceylinco Life Pranama scholarships are presented to policyholder’s children who achieve the best results in their respective districts at the Year 5 scholarship examination, the GCE Ordinary Level, and the GCE Advanced Level as well as to those who excel at the national level in sports, invention, drama, cultural activities, or display other special skills. The company also pays special cash awards to policyholder’s children who are placed second, third and fourth at district level at the GCE Advanced Level examinations.