The Awards Ceremony of the Mother Sri Lanka Schools Programme was held in the presence of His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa on June 19, 2010 at Temple Trees. The programme, conducted under the theme, ‘Apen Ratata – Rata Nagumata’, involved over 3 million school children, over a short period of one year.

Students from 2,600 national and international schools from all nine provinces participated in the Schools Programme, of which, 43 schools were selected as finalists. Following the finals, held on June 17 and 18, 2010 at the Visakha Vidyalaya Auditorium, winners from the Sinhala, Tamil and English medium categories received their awards from President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Awards Ceremony also featured a play performed by one of the participant schools.

The programme was organised and implemented by the Mother Sri Lanka Trust together with the Ministry of Education with the aim of building positive thinking about the country especially among the children, and instilling a sense of pride and patriotism among all Sri Lankans.

Each school was required to submit a team of eight students. The teams were tasked with making presentations on how they could be a part of the country’s development by thinking ‘country first’ and work towards lasting change, by making an effort to change their actions. Presentations were done in the form of dramas, songs and series of speeches. Each team was evaluated by a panel of judges comprising of independent personnel representing various fields.

Some of the presentations done by the students include those under the themes of ethnic harmony, environmental protection and working with each other to address communal issues, while several presentations helped raise awareness of the rich resources of the country.

Speaking on the competition and its objectives, Janaki Kuruppu, Director – Strategy and Perceptions Management Unit of the Presidential Secretariat and the founder of Mother Sri Lanka said, “Sri Lanka is stepping into a new era with the end of the conflict, and at this moment, we need to build patriotism and encourage people to think positively about Sri Lanka, especially the children, because they are the future of our country. This is our main objective, but we aim to go beyond this, and encourage people to act upon that patriotic feeling.”

She went on to say, “Change starts with you, and that is one of the messages that we want to bring out through this programme. Hopefully, the children who participated will share their learning with their parents and adults, thereby spreading this message and encouraging them to change as well.”
Since February 2009, the team from Mother Sri Lanka travelled across the Island, starting off from the Southern province introducing the programme among 347 schools in the South. Funds for the programme were provided by several private sector organisations including AMW Group, Phoenix Group, Ceylon Biscuit Group, Fonterra, Hemas Group, John Keells Holdings, NSB, Lanka Bell, Rupavahini, Swarnavahini and Commercial Bank. With just six members and a few volunteers from the private sector, the Mother Sri Lanka team worked tirelessly to open the hearts and minds of people and encourage discussion, thereby motivating children to take pride in their motherland and work together to drive the country forward.

The Mother Sri Lanka team consists of Janaki Kuruppu, Mr. Renton De Alwis, Mr. Ravi Fernando, Dr. Uditha Liyanaga, Mr. Rohantha Athukorale, , Mr. Thushnatha Karunanayake, Mr. Shiromi Masakorale, Mr. Stanley Carvalho Mr. Piyadasa Marambe, Mr. W. A. Wijetunga, Mr. Ganesh Dharmawardhana, Deepal Sooriyarachchi, Mr. Lalith de Silva and Charitri Ambagawitaore. The Core team includes Mr. Vajira Wickramarathne, Mr. Himanthu Ranasinghe, Ms. Harsha Gunawardena, Ms. DinashaWeerasinghe, Ms. Sujeewani Rajapaksha, and Mr. Roshantha Jurie.

In order to continue this effort, steps have been taken to establish Mother Sri Lanka School Clubs at the participatory schools, as the second stage of Schools Programme. Each school is required to start a project that will contribute towards the betterment of their school, immediate community and eventually the country. Projects picked by schools so far include constructing or improving computer labs, science labs, libraries, sports and art facilities, looking after the environment and raising awareness of road rules.

Established in January 2009, at a crucial juncture, Mother Sri Lanka has worked towards providing an opportunity for all the people of this country to come together and contribute towards their motherland. This effort was also recognised by the International Association of Lions Clubs where Mother Sri Lanka was awarded the prestigious Most Outstanding Sri Lankan Award for 2010 under the category of ‘Community Service’.

All Island Winners:

Sinhala Medium:

• 1st Place: Madukotanarawa Maha Vidyalaya
• 2nd Place: Theldeniya National School
• 3rd Place: Ganthalawa Maha Vidyalaya

Tamil Medium:

• 1st Place: Mallakam Central College
• 2nd Place: Rajawella Hindu Tamil Vidyalaya
• 3rd Place: Komari Methodist Missionary Tamil Vidyalaya

English Medium:

• 1st Place: Alethea International School

The Provincial Final competition of the Northern Province of the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Schools Program was held on the 29th April 2010 at the Wembadhi Girls’ college Auditorium, Jaffna in the distinguished presence of the Governor and Religious Leaders of the province. The competition was conducted among all Grade 1A, 1B and 1C schools in both Sinhala and Tamil mediums in the Northern Province. 105 schools in the province participated in the first preliminary round which was held at the education division level. Of these, 11 schools were 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 June 2010 after completion of all the province finals.

Northern Province Winners:

Sinhala Medium:

1st Place: Agrabodhi Maha Vidyalaya

Tamil Medium:

1st Place: Mallakam Central College

2nd Place: Nelliyadi Central College

3rd Place: Delft Maha Vidyalaya

The Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා 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”

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- Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka

The Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා 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 ஸ்ரீ ලංකා 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 ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Schools Program

Under the series of programs planned for Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා, the first and the most important program is The Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා 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 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 ஸ்ரீ ලංකා 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 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 Trust.

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.

The program was launched first in the Southern Province where the competition began in February 2009. This competition has since then been launched in all 9 provinces and the provincial finals completed in Southern, Eastern, Sabaragamuwa, North – Central, Uva, Western, North Western and Central Provinces. The final event for the Northern Province is planned to be held in the month of April and the all-island finals in June.