Bank of Ceylon awards 2,000 Ran Kekulu scholarships to Grade 5 scholarship highflyers

The Bank of Ceylon felicitated 2,000 Grade 5 scholarship highflyers of 2019 recently with a scholarship worth Rs. 15,000 each, encouraging students to pursue their education diligently. In this regard the bank has disbursed 2,000 scholarships worth Rs. 30 million to deserving students. 

Island-wide ceremonies were conducted covering each province. The main ceremony concluded with glamour at the Kandy District Secretariat Auditorium and all other events were also held on the same day similarly with the participation of respective students and their parents. This main ceremony was held with the participation of the Bank’s Chairman Kanchan Ratwatte Attorney-At-Law as the Chief Guest on the invitation of the Bank’s CEO/General Manager Senarath Bandara.  Further 25 differently abled students who have passed the Grade 5 scholarship examination 2019 were offered scholarships worth Rs. 15,000 on 7 February and there will be a monthly grant of Rs. 1,000 till the student passes through the O/L examination. This additional commitment was undertaken by the Bank in good faith to assist courageous youngsters with special needs with that extra strength they need to achieve life ambitions. 

This annual program which started in 2002, is one of the bank’s key Corporate Social Responsibility programs to uplift the country’s education by supporting and encouraging school children to make an extra effort in their studies. Since then the Bank has granted a total of 20,500 scholarships as of 2019 the total amounting to over Rs. 236 million apart from this scholarship award all other BOC Ran Kekulu account holders who have passed the 2019 Scholarship examination will be rewarded with a valuable gift provided they too have maintained the said minimum balance requirement. 

Further as a part of this sustainability initiative, the Bank conducts the ‘Hapana’ program island-wide to coach students for the year 5 scholarship examination. This program is conducted at provincial level with the assistance of the Education Ministry. The Bank of Ceylon sincerely takes pride in being able to coach thousands of students all over the country through the Hapana scholarship coaching program covering over 1,500 sessions recently. 

As a part of its CSR initiatives, the bank conducts scholarship programs, for both Grade 5 and A/L examination highflyers who have excelled in their respective exams, to appreciate the courage and dedication shown by students to become scholars and thereafter, commit themselves to the economic development of the country. The Bank has been conducting the Grade 5 scholarship examination since 2002 offering higher education scholarships to achievers across the nation. This scholarship offer is available for Ran Kekulu (RKG) account holders apart from many other benefits that are lined up together with the account. 

In order to become eligible for this special value addition RKG account holders maintained a minimum balance of Rs. 5,000 on the day before the results of the 2019 Grade 5 scholarship were released. 2,000 exceptionally performing students based on the marks received at the examination were selected from the pool of eligible applicants.