India has doubled the financial aid to Rs 172.25 million (approx. $ 600 million SLR) which is a major endowment for education in Sri Lanka. This donation is enhanced to improve the basic infrastructure of education available to the Indian-origin Tamil population living in plantation areas of the country.
Formalizing the initiative was done on Friday, when Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha and Secretary of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Education and Science and Technology J M Thilaka Jayasundara exchanged diplomatic letters detailing the modalities of the project.
The upgrading works are centered at the nine plantation schools identified by the Government of Sri Lanka. Out of those, six upgrading works will be carried out in the Central Province while Uva, Sabaragamuwa, and one school in the Southern Province respectively comprise the remaining three. This improves both the physical infrastructure and the educational resources they have to make available for the students in their communities.
Ambassador Jha emphasized that the extra funding represents a commitment on the part of India to supporting the educational framework that has been adopted in Sri Lanka and responds to requests from the government of Sri Lanka. “This project will significantly contribute to improving the quality of education in the plantation sector, which is vital for the development of the local community,” he added.
For example, training and capacity building of its teachers and staff will be prioritized ensuring that the real benefits accruable from this grant go beyond mere infrastructural improvements. This dual focus speaks to a larger development cooperation strategy by India toward Sri Lanka that has always regarded improvements in education as the way forward toward sustainable growth and empowerment.
India has majorly invested in education with a historic commitment towards development initiatives undertaken in Sri Lanka, mainly in areas that have a heavily Indian-originated population. This grant continues several previous and ongoing collaborations toward educational progress and socio-economic upliftment in the country.
Thus, with the commitment India makes towards working towards its promise in addressing educational needs in Sri Lanka, this becomes a serious effort in formulating what is to be in place for the plantation community in the future to gain proper education.
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