“Ape game natha asaranayo”

To inspire pride and passion about Sri Lanka and to begin a dialogue among school children about what it takes to contribute positively and be a patriotic Sri Lanka, the Mother Sri Lanka Program will begin a program of debates and dialogue among the schools of the Southern Province in 2009. “Through the small changes made every day by single individuals, including tiny school children, great changes can be made in society,” Janaki Kuruppu of the Mother Sri Lanka Program and Director, Strategy and Perceptions Unit of the Presidential Secretariat, said at the launch of the program on February 10 in Galle.

Through programs such as the school program launched recently, Mother Sri Lanka urges all Sri Lankan – of all communities, religions, ethnicities, ages, gender and political persuasions – to commit to make a change and restore pride and honour in Sri Lanka, our Motherland.

The program has launched a competition among school children to debate and begin a dialogue on the theme of: “What can we, as individuals, contribute to develop Sri Lanka and to achieve its great potential?”

The winning schools on a district level will then compete against winning schools from other districts on a provincial level – this competition will be among schools which have been judged as best entrants of their districts. The winners of the provincial level competition will then compete with other winning schools in a grand all-island competition. The program was launched first in the Southern Province where the competition began in February 2009 and is scheduled to conclude by early April 2009. This competition will then be held in the other districts and provinces and the final all-island competition will be held in the last quarter of 2009 under the patronage of his Excellency the President of Sri Lanka.
In the Southern Province, the program will be carried out among 11 Education Zones; 39 Education Divisions; and 340 schools which have an A’ Level stream. Through this program, Mother Sri Lanka hopes to stimulate pride and passion about what it meant to be Sri Lankan and how individuals, especially school children, can contribute to the development of this country.