Sri Lanka PM hails Indian assistance in education sector

Colombo, Oct 31 (PTI) Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya on Friday expressed gratitude to the government of India for continuous assistance in the island nation’s education sphere.

Amarasuriya, who is also the Minister of Education, was addressing a gathering in the north central region of Polonnaruwa, the Indian High Commission said.

The Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha and the Lankan PM were guests at the handing over ceremony of the Multi-Ethnic Trilingual School in Polonnaruwa, built with Indian grant.

The Indian financial assistance to the project stands at over SLR 320 million.

Amarasuriya expressed gratitude to the Government and people of India for the project and said that with the handing over, India has done its part, and now it is the Sri Lankan government's responsibility to take the initiative forward.

She highlighted the efforts underway in Sri Lanka to address issues in the education sector, such as inadequate infrastructure and shortage of teachers, and appreciated India’s support in this regard through various development cooperation initiatives.

This was a sequel to a Memorandum of Understanding signed in February 2017 between the two governments to establish the school as a High Impact Community Development (HICD) project to provide quality education opportunities in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural environment.

As per plans for the overall premises, government of Sri Lanka is further undertaking construction of additional structures next to the building inaugurated Friday.

The Indian envoy Jha underscored the shared commitment of the governments of India and Sri Lanka to the welfare of the people of the two countries. He said that the shared commitment finds added strength in the synergy in approaches in the two countries.

Some notable past instances of India’s development cooperation projects in the education sector in Sri Lanka include infrastructure upgradation and supply of digital equipment at hundreds of institutions across the island, and establishment and support to vocational training centres at varying locations, the Indian High Commission said. PTI CORR NPK NPK