India doubles grant to support education in Sri Lanka's plantation community

Colombo: India has doubled its grant to Rs 172.25 million to support education in Sri Lanka’s plantation areas for the Indian-origin Tamil community.

Indian High Commission to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha and Secretary of Sri Lanka's Ministry of Education and Science and Technology J M Thilaka Jayasundara signed and exchanged diplomatic letters on Friday to formalise the modalities.

“The project envisages the upgradation of infrastructure of 9 plantation schools identified by the Government of Sri Lanka. These include 6 schools in the plantation areas of Central Province and one school each in Uva, Sabaragamuwa and Southern Province," Jha said.

With the additional funds infused at the request of the Government of Sri Lanka, India's total commitment to the project now stands at 600 million Sri Lanka rupees (INR 172.25 million).

The project would add to India's numerous past and ongoing development partnership initiatives in Sri Lanka in the important sector of education.

Besides support for infrastructure development and equipment supply, training and capacity-building have formed an equally important focus area for India’s development cooperation projects in the sector in Sri Lanka.