The first district level recognition ceremony under the President’s Fund for high achievers of the 2025 G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination took place on September 26 in Kilinochchi.

Initiated in 2025 under the chairmanship of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the programme honours top-performing students in each subject stream at the district level. While the 2023/2024 academic year programme recognized the top ten students per stream in each district, this year’s quota has been expanded to 20 students per stream, covering nearly 3,000 students island-wide. Each recipient will be awarded a certificate of recognition and Rs. 100,000 in financial assistance.

At today’s event, 480 students ranking from 1st to 20th across six subject streams in the Northern Province’s five districts Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu were recognized.

Speaking at the ceremony, Speaker of Parliament Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne highlighted the Government’s commitment to supporting children’s education and noted that the President’s Fund has broadened its initiatives to assist students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. He stated that while the fund allocated Rs. 296 million to 2,960 top ten district-level students in 2023 and 2024, the allocation for this year alone stands at Rs. 280 million to cover the expanded top-20 tier per subject stream.

Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources Ramalingam Chandrasekar noted that the occasion coincides with the second anniversary of the current Government and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake taking office, as well as the 48th anniversary of the President’s Fund. He stated that services previously concentrated in Colombo have now been decentralized to the Divisional Secretariat level. Pointing to historical challenges in Northern Province education, he urged students to maximize these opportunities and called on parents to support their children’s educational development. (Eduwire)