AIA Insurance’s higher education scholarships program, now in its 24th year, rewards the top performers of each district at the Grade 5 scholarship examination, by giving them a monthly bursary from the Advanced Level (A/L) class right up to the completion of their University degree.
Launched in 1994, the program was initiated to lend a hand to Sri Lanka’s brightest and most promising students, as they are the future of the nation.
AIA scholarships do not require the winners’ parents to be an AIA Insurance customer as the awards are purely based on academic merit.
Chief guest, neurosurgeon Dr. Sunil Perera inspired the students by sharing his own personal experience when studying and highlighted the need for undeterred commitment to learning.
He shared the difficult circumstances he had to face during his journey to the height of medical achievement and called upon the students to never give up in the face of adversity and to pursue their dreams with passion and determination. The highlight of the event was when a scholarship winner, D.H.P. Dimagi, of the Galle district, told the gathering how pleasantly surprised she was that AIA saw through the commitment to support her and her fellow winners.
She said at the time the scholarship was granted she was in Grade 5, and it seemed so far away that she never believed it would come to fruition so many years later.
She thanked AIA for honouring a promise and said she was committed to persevering in her studies, so she can gain entry to University and do justice to the support she has been given. She added that the bursary will come in most useful for her tertiary education since it will give her the financial security to focus fully on her studies and not worry about finding money for her textbooks and other educational needs. So far, 600 students have qualified for the AIA Higher Education Scholarship when they enter the Advanced Level and 450 students are receiving the bursary.
Many of them have reached top designations is various fields, including medicine, law and engineering.