A new programme will be launched under the President’s Fund to provide financial assistance for the education of children in Sri Lanka whose parents employed overseas face hardships.
The initiative, introduced under the concept “Ensuring No Child is Left Behind in Education”, will be jointly implemented by the President’s Fund, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, and the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE).
A discussion on expanding the services of the President’s Fund to better support Sri Lankans employed abroad, as well as those preparing for overseas employment, was held on Wednesday (Sep 3) at the Presidential Secretariat. The meeting was chaired by Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath, alongside Senior Additional Secretary to the President and Secretary to the President’s Fund, Roshan Gamage.
The programme is designed to safeguard the education of children whose parents overseas have passed away, gone missing, been imprisoned, or affected by disasters. In addition, it will extend support to young Sri Lankans preparing for overseas employment by funding foreign language studies, providing allowances for trainers at language centres, and offering financial assistance to rural youth for skills development. It will also focus on building a skilled workforce for the tourism sector, with particular emphasis on rural areas.
The discussion was attended by Foreign Employment Division Additional Secretary Dr. M. M. S. S. B. Yalegama, SLBFE Chairman Kosala Wickramasinghe, Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management Chairman Dheera Hettiarachchi, and senior officials from the President’s Fund and SLBFE.
