Commercial Bank awards 25 more undergrad scholarships

Commercial Bank’s ‘Sarasawiyata Nawa Saviyak,’ CSR programme recently presented 25 more scholarships to needy undergraduates continuing the Bank’s initiative to support the higher education of future generations of Sri Lankans.

The 25 undergraduates selected for the programme are from the Medical faculties of the universities of Peradeniya, Jaffna and Ruhuna and the Management faculties of the universities of Colombo and Jayawardenapura.

The selected undergraduates will receive Rs. 2500 per month for ten academic months of every year that they study at their respective universities.

Speaking at the presentation of these scholarships, the chief guest at the event, Minister of Higher Education S B Dissanayake said that the government appreciates the Commercial Bank’s efforts to support the higher education of Sri Lankan students and commended the Bank for consciously allocating a percentage of its post tax profits to do so.

He said that these scholarships are of particular importance to undergraduates who do not receive any other assistance and urged them and all those passing out from the universities to learn well and emerge as graduates who can find gainful employment anywhere in the world.

Commercial Bank Chairman Mahendra Amarasuriya said the Commercial Bank has grown to be the biggest and the most profitable Bank in Sri Lanka because of the patronage and trust of the community. “We consider it our duty to give something back to the community in a tangible and meaningful manner,” he said.

This was the fourth presentation of undergraduate scholarships by Commercial Bank. In its first disbursement, the Bank presented 100 scholarships, and announced it would award 25 every year thereafter.

 The Bank to date has presented 175 such scholarships.

Recipients of this year’s scholarships were also identified with the assistance of the University Grants Commission (UGC).  Being ineligible for Mahapola or any other scholarship programme, the number of attempts made at the GCE A/L examination, the number of school-going children in the family, parental income and the distance between the university and the student’s home are some of the factors that are taken into consideration.

The Commercial Bank also has a reward scheme for deserving younger students. All holders of Arunalu minors accounts who excel the year 5 scholarship examination every year are awarded valuable cash prizes.

The Commercial Bank’s CSR Trust was established in 2004 and presently focuses mainly on projects aimed at uplifting standards of IT and English education, healthcare and village development activities.

 The Trust commenced with a startup capital of Rs 25 million and the Bank contributes up to one per cent of its post tax profits every year towards it.