India has significantly increased its financial support to improve education infrastructure in Sri Lanka’s plantation regions, doubling its grant to 600 million Sri Lankan Rupees (SLR). The additional funds were provided at the request of the Sri Lankan government, bringing the Government of India’s (GOI) total commitment to the project to this new amount.
On October 18, 2024, India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha, and the Secretary of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Education and Science and Technology, Mrs. J.M. Thilaka Jayasundara, signed and exchanged diplomatic letters to finalize the details of this enhanced grant support.
The project, which focuses on upgrading infrastructure in nine schools identified by the Sri Lankan government, includes six schools in the Central Province and one each in the Uva, Sabaragamuwa, and Southern Provinces.
This initiative is part of India’s broader development partnership with Sri Lanka, particularly in the education sector. India’s previous support has included various projects across the country, such as:
– Renovation of over 100 schools in the Northern Province.
– Setting up 40 e-libraries in the Southern and Eastern Provinces.
– Supplying 110 buses to educational institutions across the island.
– Establishing English language labs in all provinces.
– Building and renovating auditoriums, including the Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Auditorium at Ruhuna University.
– Constructing a multi-ethnic, tri-lingual school in Polonnaruwa, North Central Province.
– Supporting vocational training centers, such as the Thondaman Vocational Training Centre in Hatton (Central Province) and others in the Eastern Province.
– Establishing smart classrooms and computer labs in 200 schools in Galle (Southern Province).
Additionally, a recent three-month teacher training program in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects was conducted for plantation schools under India’s INR 750 million multi-sectoral grant assistance. This initiative was part of the celebrations marking 200 years of the Indian-origin Tamil community’s arrival in Sri Lanka.
India’s continued efforts to improve education in Sri Lanka underscore the deep ties and cooperation between the two nations, with education and capacity-building being central themes of India’s development assistance.
