Citizens Development Business Finance PLC (CDB) has presented 509 scholarships since 2008 to high achievers with financial difficulties who excelled in the Grade Five and GCE Ordinary Level examinations.
This CSR initiative by CDB, which has now invested Rs. 21.7 mn since the launch of the Sisudiri scholarship program ten years ago, has etched a pathway for marginalised and financially disadvantaged students continue their education devoid of interruption.
This year, the number of scholarships was increased to 100 grants from the fifty presented annually for the past ten years, with sixty Grade Five scholars and 40 students excelling at their Ordinary Levels gaining financial empowerment to sustain their educational ambitions and career goals.
CDB’s MD/CEO Mahesh Nanayakkara said, “By financially empowering them, we are assisting them to drive their personal goals, tagging these to industry objectives and pushing productivity levels to meet national ambitions,” Nanayakkara said.
Deputy General Manager, Marketing, CDB, Darshana Jayasinghe said, “The sixty Grade Five scholars will receive Rs 50,000 as a cash grant over five years until they complete their secondary education, while the forty Ordinary Level scholars gain Rs 30,000 with Rs 15,000 given to them each year until they complete their Advanced Levels.