Think “Country First”

The Mother Sri Lanka Schools Program concludes in the Eastern Province

Trincomalee, October 16, 2009 - Sri Lanka is entering a new stage in her history – a new era of peace and prosperity – where the people of this wonderful country can unite and engage positively to re-make their futures and turn the page of all the tribulations and lost opportunities of the past. The Mother Sri Lanka movement aims to act as a catalyst to bring about this change. The Program has leadership and direction from the President’s Office and support from corporate sponsors.

“Palamuwath Rata, Dewanuwath Rata, Thunwenuwath Rata”
“My first priority is my country, my second priority is my country, my third priority is my country”
-
- Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka

The Mother Sri Lanka movement seeks to bring diverse perspectives under one umbrella to:
• To rekindle pride in being Sri Lankan.
• To generate a revolution of faith and optimism in the country.
• To inculcate a confidant and proactively positive attitude.
• And to charge every Sri Lankan with this positive energy.

The Mother Sri Lanka movement is set up as a private – public partnership and has its own independent foundation. Corporations supporting this initiative so far are: as Platinum sponsors, the AMW Group and The Phoenix Ventures Group; as Gold sponsors, the Fonterra Group, as Silver Sponsors, JKH and Ceylon Biscuits Group; and as Bronze Sponsors, the Hemas Group. Lanka Bell and NSB have also come forward as award sponsors for the schools program.

Mother Sri Lanka Schools Program

Under the series of programs planned for Mother Sri Lanka, the first and the most important program is The Mother Sri Lanka School Programme, 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 Sri Lanka Trust together with the Ministry of Education has embarked on the Mother Sri Lanka schools program which is probably the first of its’ kind to be implemented among Sri Lankan schools.

The Mother Sri Lanka School program aims to encourage children to think “Country First” by organising various activities through the Mother Sri Lanka clubs.
The Mother Sri Lanka Schools Programme is implemented on behalf of the Mother Sri Lanka Foundation and The Presidential Secretariat by the Ministry of Education.

Objectives of Mother Sri Lanka 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 Sri Lanka clubs in the schools.

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 be 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 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 Sri Lanka schools program will be continued among the schools through the Mother Sri Lanka 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 Sri Lanka 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 Sri Lanka Foundation.

The primary role of the Mother Sri Lanka 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 Sri Lanka.

The program was launched first in the Southern Province where the competition began in February 2009. This competition has since then been launched in the Eastern, Sabaragamuwa, Wayamba, Central, North – Central and Uva provinces.

The Provincial Final competition of the Eastern Province was held today at the Orr’s Hill Vivekananda College, Trincomalee. The competition was conducted among all Grade 1A, 1B and 1C schools in both Sinhala and Tamil mediums in the Eastern Province. 87 schools from the Ampara District, 67 schools from the Batticaloa District and 72 schools from the Trincomalee district were entitled to participate in the first preliminary round which was held at the education division level. Of these, 16 schools have been selected to enter the finals and the following schools emerged winners. These provincial winners will be entitled to enter the All Island final which will be held in Colombo in 2010 after completion of all province finals.

Eastern Province Winners:

Tamil Medium:
1st Place: Komari Methodist Missionary Tamil Maha Vidyalaya

2nd Place: Karuvakkerny Vickneswara Maha Vidyalaya

3rd Place: Kallady Vivekananda Ladies College

Sinhala Medium:
1st Place: Ganthalawa Maha Vidyalaya

2nd Place: Dehiatthakandiya National College

3rd Place: Palugahawanguwa Maha Vidyalaya.