Ceylinco Life presents 162 more ‘Pranama’ scholarships at unique virtual ceremony

• Life insurance leader’s long-running educational support initiative reaches milestone 20^th year

• Rs 167 million presented to 2,887 bright and talented young Sri Lankans

Ceylinco Life recently celebrated the 20^th edition of its ‘Pranama’ Scholarships programme with its first ever virtual ceremony to felicitate and reward 162 students who excelled in academic and extracurricular activities with Rs 11.8 million in scholarships.

The certificates, medals, and gifts that usually accompany the scholarships will be physically presented to scholarship recipients individually at branch-level in the first week of August, the life insurance leader said.

The scholarship ceremony videocast via Zoom to beneficiaries and Ceylinco Life staff countrywide commenced with a welcome address by Ceylinco Life Managing Director and CEO Mr Thushara Ranasinghe, and was followed by the keynote address of the Chief Guest, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ruhuna, Senior Professor Sujeewa Amarasena.

Additionally, a past Pranama Scholarship winner who is now a research engineer Mr Charana Suneth Sonnadara and current scholarship winners and district level first place winners at the GCE Advanced Level J. M. Tharinda Rashmi Bandara Navarathne, Konesamoorthy Akshika and Umesha Amodama Tilakarathna also addressed the audience as part of the ceremony.

Ceylinco Life launched the Pranama scholarships scheme in 2002 recognising the increasing burden on parents to invest money and effort in the education of their children despite the availability of free education in the country. Over the next 19 years the company presented Rs 155 million in scholarships to 2,725 students, and with the 20^th round of scholarships presented in 2021 that figure has now reached Rs 167 million and benefited 2,887 young and talented Sri Lankans. Many past Pranama Scholarship winners are now doctors, lawyers, engineers, or in other pivotal positions that contribute to the development of society in a testament to the value of Ceylinco Life’s initiative to motivate future generations of the country.

Ceylinco Life Pranama scholarships are presented to policyholder’s children who achieve the best results in their respective districts at the Year 5 scholarship examination, the GCE Ordinary Level, and the GCE Advanced Level as well as to those who excel at the national level in sports, invention, drama, cultural activities, or display other special skills. The Company also pays special cash awards to policyholder’s children who are placed second, third and fourth at district level at the GCE Advanced Level examinations.

The latest edition of ‘Pranama’ Scholarships rewarded 30 students who excelled at the 2020 Year 5 scholarship examination with Rs 120,000 each, payable in instalments over five years. Another 25 students who excelled at the 2019 G.C.E. Ordinary Level Examinations will receive Rs 84,000, payable monthly over two years, while 25 students placed 1^st in their districts at the 2019 G.C.E. Advanced Level examinations will receive scholarships worth Rs 144,000 each, payable over a three-year period. Members of this group are also each entitled to a special reward from Ceylinco Life of a Lenovo IdeaPad D330 device which is a two-in-one detachable Notebook and lightweight tablet, as well as a giftpack including a pen drive, wireless mouse, and Bluetooth speaker, each.

Furthermore, one-time payments of Rs 30,000 each are to be presented to 73 students placed 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th in their districts at the 2019 GCE Advanced Level examination.

Nine students who have excelled in sports, drama, invention or creative fields in 2019 and 2020 were presented merit awards, each to the value of Rs 35,000.

Additionally, 550 students who are ranked in the top 10 in all three public examinations at a district level will be presented a certificate of appreciation and a gift pack at their respective branches, shortly.

Ranked the ‘Most Valuable Life Insurance Brand’ in Sri Lanka by Brand Finance and voted the ‘Peoples Life Insurance Service Provider of the Year’ for a record 15^th consecutive year in 2021, Ceylinco Life has been Sri Lanka’s leading life insurer for more than half of the 33 years it has been in existence. In 2020, the Company was certified as a ‘Great Workplace’ in Sri Lanka by Great Place to Work®, was named the ‘Best Life Insurer in Sri Lanka’ for the seventh consecutive year by World Finance, and accorded an ‘Honourable Mention’ as one of the ‘Most Admired Companies in Sri Lanka’ by the International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (ICCSL) in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), UK.

Ceylinco Life has close to a million lives covered by active policies and is acknowledged as a benchmark in the local insurance sector for innovation, product research and development, customer service, professional development, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility.