Sri Lanka to increase bursary payment for university students

Nov 20, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Higher Education and Highways Ministry has taken steps to minimize the gap between Mahapola Scholarship holders and bursary payment holders by increasing the monthly bursary payment from 2,500 rupees to 4,000 rupees to enable university students to continue their studies without any economic difficulties, media spokesman said. Approximately, 25,000 students are admitted to universities annually and nearly 12,000 of them receive Mahapola Scholarships, while nearly 7,000 students receive bursaries.









Mahapola scholarship holder receives a payment of 5,000 rupees per months while the bursary holder receives a payment of 2,500 rupees per month. The Mahapola Higher Education Scholarship Scheme was launched in 1981 to support the higher education of students, according to a concept of the late Minister Lalith Athulathmudali.







Parallel to Mahapola, a bursary scheme was launched and implemented by universities under the Treasury funds to support needy students of low income families.



Sri Lanka’s present government boast about a knowledge economy and increase the education spending to 6 percent from the gross domestic production in the interim budget 2015.