The Pakistan High Commission in Colombo has organized the Jinnah Scholarship ceremony to award scholarships to deserving A-Level students of Sri Lanka.
According to a statement from the Pakistan High Commission, the event was held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH).
These scholarships have been awarded by the Government of Pakistan to Sri Lankan students of A Level since 2006. So far, more than 2400 Sri Lankan students have benefitted from this program, named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the revered founding father of Pakistan.
Minister for Buddhasasana, Religious & Cultural Affairs Vidura Wickramanayaka graced the occasion as Chief Guest. During his speech, Minister Wickramanayake highly appreciated the gracious gesture from the people and the Government of Pakistan.
He stated that such efforts will be very fruitful in strengthening bilateral relations between the two friendly countries, adding that the youth is our future and through such scholarship programs, we strengthen our future generations.
In his remarks, Pakistan High Commissioner Major General (Retd) Umar Farooq Burki HI (M) thanked the honourable Chief Guest for gracing this auspicious occasion. He emphasized the importance of the relationship that both countries enjoy and the fact that Pakistan aims at strengthening these strong ties manifolds.
He added that the Jinnah Scholarship is a testament to the strong bond between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and it reflects our commitment to enhancing the capabilities of youth with better educational opportunities.
He also informed the audience that the Government of Pakistan has been awarding the Jinnah Scholarship to bright Sri Lankan students since 2006. The High Commissioner mentioned that the students who qualified for this prestigious scholarship came from all provinces of the island.
The ratio of Sinhalese, Tamil (67) and Muslim (74) students was also almost equal. It was very encouraging to see that the number of female students (87) was almost double as compared to that of the male students (44).
The High Commission further stated that the Government of Pakistan takes pride in producing hundreds of doctors, engineers and other professionals in various faculties through separate fully funded scholarship programs.
During the Jinnah scholarship awarding ceremony, certificates were awarded by the Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious & Cultural Affairs Vedura Wickramanayaka, Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, the High Commissioner of Pakistan to Sri Lanka and Deputy High Commissioner, Professors representing Universities, Ambassadors, political personalities and friends of Pakistan were also present at the occasion. (NewsWire)