The awards ceremony of the Mother Sri Lanka Schools Programme was held in the presence of His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees. The programme, conducted under the theme, ‘Apen Ratata – Rata Nagumata’, involved over three million school children, over a short period of one year. The programme was organised with the aim of building positive thinking about the country especially among children, and instilling a sense of pride and patriotism among all Sri Lankans.
Students from 2,600 national and international schools from all nine provinces participated in the Schools Programme and the winners from the Sinhala, Tamil and English medium categories received their awards from President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The awards ceremony also featured plays performed by some of the participant schools.
In the Sinhala Medium Category, Madukotan Arawa Maha Vidyalaya came out winners, in the Tamil Medium Category, Mallaham Maha Vidyalaya emerged winners and in the English Medium Category, Alethea International School claimed first place. Speaking during the awards ceremony, President Mahinda Rajapaksa urged students to work harder for their motherland and went on to say that knowledge alone is not sufficient. “With knowledge, you need determination and courage. Similarly, you should love the country you were born in.”
Speaking on the competition and its objectives, Janaki Kuruppu, Director – Strategy and Perceptions Management Unit of the Presidential Secretariat and the founder of Mother Sri Lanka said, “Change starts with you, and that is one of the messages that we want to bring out through this programme.”
