Under the series of programs planned for Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා, the first and the most important program is The Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා School Program, which is aimed at targeting our 4.2 million school children in the country who will be entrusted with the task of taking this country forward.

In order to reach this target group, an approach of engagement, interaction and dialogue has been selected as the most appropriate. Hence, the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Trust together with the Ministry of Education has embarked on the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා schools program which is probably the first of its’ kind to be implemented among Sri Lankan schools.

The Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා School program aims to encourage children to think “Country First” by organising various activities through the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා clubs.

The Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Schools Programme is implemented on behalf of the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Foundation and The Presidential Secretariat by the Ministry of Education.

Objectives of Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Schools Program

• To evoke a sense of pride about the motherland among children
• To motivate them to play a proactive role in the next era of development of the country
• To instill faith in the next generation about their motherland’s resources
• To continue this program of work through the establishment of Mother = ලංකා clubs in the schools.

The Dialogue Competition

As a first step, the movement has organised a series of dialog competitions on the lines of: “What can the children of Sri Lanka give back to our country?” - “Apen Ratata, Rata Nagumata”, among all schools that offer upto A’Level classes. The program covers all the public and private schools that offer classes upto A’Levels, numbering over 2500, as well as International schools that have come forward and shown interest.

The presentations were made under the themes:

1. As students how can we are a part of the development of our Nation?

2. I must change for my country to change.

3. How can unity among all ethnic communities contribute to Nation Building?

4. How can we use our indigenous/ traditional technologies/knowledge in today’s world?

5. My attitude will be the spirit of my Nation.

Each participant school is asked to make a presentation of ideas based on the topics given under the above main theme in teams of 6-8 children. The best themes are chosen based on a common marking scheme which rewards innovative and proactive thinking that is creatively presented. The winning schools from the education zonal level will then compete at a provincial level. The winners of the provincial level competition will then compete with other winning schools in a grand all-island competition.

Not stopping at a competition, Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා schools program will be continued among the schools through the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා clubs which will be established in each participant school.

During the province level competitions each school that participates in the competition is required to establish the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Society in their school. The mandate and constitution of these societies are explained at every preliminary meeting to the Educational Directors and school principals by officials of The Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Foundation.

The primary role of the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා clubs is to continue the work initiated by this program by starting with the implementation of the practical ideas presented by the school team and thereafter by regularly conducting programs to achieve the objectives of Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා.

Total size of the Population that will be reached through the MSL Schools Program

Province	Schools	No of Students	No of Officials
Southern	340	350,729	17,862
Western	468	716,894	26,115
Central	422	698,503	19,075
Northern	181	148,841	6,830
Eastern	226	213,760	9,663
North Central	184	166,293	15,723
North Western	342	322,874	7,568
Uva	221	190,173	10,195
Sabaragamuwa	258	231,626	11,867
Total	2642	3,039,693	124,898

The primary role of these clubs is to continue the work initiated by this program by starting with the implementation of the practical ideas presented by the school team and thereafter by regularly conducting programs to achieve the objectives of Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා.

Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා clubs / Societies

• Schools which intend to participate in this program in order to create positive attitudes about our country can establish Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා clubs.
• All members participating in the discussion should be committee members of the school clubs and posts such as president, secretary and treasurer should be held by students
• Principals should be made the head of the advisory committee and teachers should be appointed as Deputy Advisers with the consent of the principal.
• All students and the teachers are allowed to participate in this program and at the same time the school can obtain help / suggestions/ proposals from past pupils and parents.

Objectives of Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා School Clubs and Societies

• Increase patriotism amongst school children.
• Improve creativity and logical thinking among them.
• To identify potential of children and utilize their talents for the development of the nation.
• To be incorporated with the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා foundation and to achieve its objectives.
• To be Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා foundation representatives in their own capacity in the society.
• Children to be leaders in creating an independent developed Sri Lanka.
• To enable children to contribute to the development of the nation by formulating small scale projects under the concept ‘“Our Contribution to Nation Building”.

Structure of the Clubs and Societies

1. Principal – Chief Adviser (Principal to be the Chief Adviser ex-officio)

2. Deputy Advisors covering the following personnel.

1. Deputy Principal

2. Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා club/society Teacher in Charge

3. President

4. Secretary (The President and the Secretary should be chosen from the students and nominated at the General Assembly. The first President and the Secretary should be representative of the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකාdiscussion team if such team is formed for participation).

5. Treasurer (The Treasurer should be nominated from among the teachers.)

6. Assistant Treasurer

7. Assistant President

8. Assistant Secretary

(Student should be chosen for these 3 posts by nomination. The nominations should be taken from the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා discussion team if it is formed).

9. Committee Members students 07

(Committee Members should at least minimally represent each grade. This needs to have an overall representative of the entire Committee. This too needs to be done through nominations.)

10. Committee Members teachers 03

(These 3 teachers should form the Primary Section, Junior and Senior Sections of the school. Preferably these teachers should be the sectional Heads.)

The above numbers can be adjusted according to the number of teachers and students in the school.

Projects

• A special committee should be formed from the main members when coordinating special projects. These committees are only for the purpose of these special projects and once the projects are over the committee ceases to exist.
• The school’s club members should be appointed annually.

Forming Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Clubs and Societies

1. Members must be appointed after the nomination process at a general meeting.
2. Each club/society must be named after the school.
3. The club/society should comprise of 20 elected representatives.

Conducting Meetings

1. Meetings should be held at least twice a school term.
2. Additional meetings can be called to work on projects.
3. Notice for the meetings should be displayed on the main notice board 04 days before the meeting.

Reporting

All meeting proceedings should be properly recorded and all such minutes should be approved by the Principal of the school.

Every new project should be approved by at least 2/3 of the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා society membership and the principal in the capacity of chief advisor before implementation. Simultaneously it should be reported to Motherஸ்ரீ ලංකා Foundation at the President’s Office.

Responsibility

1. Schools’ Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Clubs and Societies are expected to work with the main Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකාfoundation and support its activities.

Special Activities of Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Clubs and Societies

1. Organize a special agenda to celebrate Independence Day 4th February each year.
2. The clubs/societies of Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා need to organize a project that will be beneficial for the School/village/town under the theme of “Our Contribution to Nation Building”. A minimum of one project should be maintained at all time under the society. A project can be chosen from the discussion topics mentioned in this document. It is compulsory to obtain the approval for these projects from Mother ஸ்ரீලංකා foundation.
3. A progress report of these projects as well as all other activities maintained by the clubs/societies needs to be submitted every quarter (each school term) to the main foundation.
4. Supervising and practicing the singing of the National Anthem before starting the school.
5. Being leaders in preventing any damage to public property and resources.
6. Promote competitions (arts/essays/photography/wall posters/free verse/special lectures etc).
7. Inform Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා foundation about any town development activities being undertaken by individuals or groups in the area that can be clarified under the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා theme. This can be done monthly or quarterly.
8. Present the discussion chosen by the school for the 2009 “Our Contribution to Nation Building” competition to the entire school staff and the students.