The official announcement that the total required quantity of school uniform fabric worth LKR 5,171 million for the year 2025 has been fully provided as a donation by the Government of China was made on July 16 at the Ministry of Education in Battaramulla, with the participation of the Minister of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Education, Prime Minister, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.

During the occasion, the relevant certificate exchange took place between Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, H.E. Qi Zhenhong, confirming the completion of this donation.

A formal request has already been submitted through the Department of External Resources to the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Sri Lanka, seeking assistance for the provision of school uniform fabric for the year 2026 as well.

Expressing her views at the event, the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, Prime Minister, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated:

Sri Lanka and China share a long-standing friendship based on cooperation. The contribution of school uniforms for our schoolchildren is yet another step in this enduring friendship.

In 2023 and 2024, the Chinese government contributed a significant portion of our national requirement for school uniform fabric, and in 2025, the entire requirement has been fulfilled through their support.

This generous contribution from the Chinese government, especially during a very difficult time for Sri Lanka, is deeply appreciated as it supports the education of our children.

Our government has already requested continued support of the Chinese government for the year 2026 as well. On behalf of the children and parents of our country, I extend my sincere gratitude to the Chinese government and people.

Addressing at the event, the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, H.E. Qi Zhenhong, stated:

China will always act as your trustworthy partner in every moment Sri Lanka needs support. Children are not only the future of this country but also heirs to the China–Sri Lanka friendship.

Every stitch of their school uniforms tells the story of mutual cooperation between our ancient civilizations. I deeply appreciate the commitment and dedication of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya to the advancement of education in this country.

The event was attended by officials from the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Education.

Prime Minister’s Division

A representative team of TikTok platform in Sri Lanka visited the secretary to the Prime Minister today (16) at the Prime Minister’s office focusing on common issues in the possible areas of using digital platforms, and how TikTok as a digital platform can be used to implement in creating opportunities in economic platforms and digital education going beyond the entertainment.

The representatives pointed out the importance of the Inclusion of Legislation, Research and amendments into the curriculum on the knowledge of digital education and addressing Digital hygiene, and Economic opportunities.

The secretary to the Prime Minister further emphasized on the need for immediate implementation of such collaborative efforts with the ongoing reforms into the education sector.

The discussion was attended by Ferdous Al Mottakin- TikTok Head of Government Relations and Public Affairs for South Asia and Additional secretary to the Prime Minister and other officials.

Prime Minister’s Division

The second day of the Seventh meeting of the International Solar Allience (ISA) Regional committee for Asia and the Pacific Region was held today focusing on advancing Regional cooperation for a Solar-powered future on 16 at Hotel ICT Rathnadeepa, Colombo with the participation of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.

This year’s session was held under the theme of ’Advancing Solar Cooperation Across a Region of Diversity and Opportunity’, with Sri Lanka being the vice chair of high level dialogue.

Delivering the inaugural speech, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya emphasized the country’s dedication to strengthening regional solar cooperation and achieving energy security through sustainable development.

Marking the country partnership between Sri Lanka and ISA Regional committee, the official framework of the roadmap was signed and presented to the Minister of Energy, Kumara Jayakodi.

Addressing the event, Minister of Energy, Mr. Kumara Jayakodi pointed out the initiative of the government, "Battle for Solar Energy” to include the expansion of rooftop solar power systems and the government’s commitment to achieving 70% renewable energy by 2030, laying the groundwork for a greener and more resilient future.

The conference provided a platform for forging new regional partnerships, with the University of Moratuwa identified as a key knowledge and research hub for solar innovation.

The Prime Minister participated in the opening of a special solar innovation exhibition, showcasing regional advancements in solar technology and practical solutions for solar adoption across diverse socio-economic contexts.

The event was attended by the High Commissioner of India for Sri Lanka, Santhosh Jah, Director general of ISA, Ashish Khanna and delegation and representatives of 124 countries from region of asia and pacific.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතිවල වියදම, ප්‍රගතිය හා ප්‍රතිලාභ නිවැරැදිව සමාලෝචනය කර ඉදිරිපත් කරන්න...

සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘති සඳහා වෙන් වූ මුදල් පිළිබඳව ප්‍රමාණාත්මක දත්ත ගෙනහැර දැක්වීමට වඩා එම ව්‍යාපෘති හරහා මෙතෙක් සිදු වූ ප්‍රතිලාභ හා බලපෑම් පිළිබඳව නිවැරැදි අවබෝධයෙන් කටයුතු කිරීම සහ ප්‍රගතිය සමාලෝචනය කර ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම ඉතා වැදගත් බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය හරිනි අමරසූරිය කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික් සංවර්ධන කමිටුවේ දී ප්‍රකාශ කරන ලදී.

කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික් සම්බන්ධීකරණ කමිටුව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමියගේ සහභාගිත්වයෙන්, සම්බන්ධීකරණ කමිටු සභාපති පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ලක්ෂ්මන් නිපුණාරච්චි මහතාගේ මූලිකත්වයෙන් ජුලි 15 වැනි දා කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික් ලේකම් කාර්යාලයේ දී පැවැත්විණි.

මෙහි දී විමධ්‍යගත අයවැය වැඩසටහන, ග්‍රාමීය මාර්ග සංවර්ධන වැඩසටහන, බස්නාහිර පළාත් දිස්ත්‍රික් සංවර්ධන සැලැස්ම, දිස්ත්‍රික් සංවර්ධන වැඩසටහන, වැවිලි සහ ප්‍රජා යටිතල පහසුකම් අමාත්‍යංශය යටතේ කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය තුළ යෝජිත ව්‍යාපෘති වැඩසටහන් යටතේ, 2025 වසර සඳහා යෝජිත ව්‍යාපෘතිවල මේ වන විට ලබා ඇති ප්‍රගතිය පිළිබඳව මූලිකව සාකච්ඡා කෙරිණි.

එහි දී අදාළ සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතිවල ප්‍රගතිය සම්බන්ධව වෙන වෙනම සිදුකරන ලද පැහැදිලි කිරීම් වෙත අවධානය යොමු කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමිය, තීරණයක් ගතහැකි වගකිවයුතු නිලධාරීන් දිස්ත්‍රික් සංවර්ධන කමිටුවට සම්බන්ධ වීමේ වැදගත්කම අවධාරණය කළා ය.

තවද මෙම වසරට අදාළව දිස්ත්‍රික්කය තුළ සිදුකිරීමට නියමිත සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතීන්වල ප්‍රගතිය නිවැරැදිව සමාලෝචනය කරගැනීම එළඹෙන වසර සඳහා සැලසුම් ගොඩනැගීමේ දී ඉතා වැදගත් වන බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරිය විසින් පෙන්වා දෙන ලදී.

මෙහිදී අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරිය විසින් ගෙන ආ යෝජනාවක් අනුව, මෙම වසරට අදාළ කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ සම්පූර්ණ සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතිවල ප්‍රගතිය අගෝස්තු මාසයේ දී නැවත අධීක්ෂණයට ලක් කිරීම පිළිබඳව කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික් සම්බන්ධීකරණ කමිටු සභාපති, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ලක්ෂ්මන් නිපුණාරච්චි මහතාගේ අවධානය යොමු විය.

තවද මෙම සංවර්ධන කමිටු රැස්වීමේ දී ප්‍රවාහන, මහාමාර්ග, වරාය හා සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා අමාත්‍යංශයේ විශේෂ ව්‍යාපෘතියක් ලෙස ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට නියමිත නාගරික ප්‍රවාහන ප්‍රතිපත්තිය පිළිබඳව කමිටු සාමාජිකයන් වෙනුවෙන් විශේෂ හඳුන්වාදීමක් ද සිදුකරන ලදී.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් වන සමන්මලී ගුණසිංහ, අරුණ පනාගොඩ, අසිත නිරෝෂණ, නිතීඥ සුසන්ත දොඩාවත්ත, දේවානන්ද සුරවීර යන මහත්මහත්මීන් ද කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයට අයත් පළාත් පාලන ආයතනවල සභාපතිවරුන් හා උපසභාපතිවරුන් ඇතුළුව කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික් ලේකම් ප්‍රසන්න ජනක කුමාර මහතා මෙන්ම දිස්ත්‍රික් සංවර්ධන කමිටු සාමාජිකයන් සම්බන්ධ වූහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

In line with the President’s vision that no child should be left behind and the future well-being of all children must be ensured, one of the strongest commitments included in the election manifesto of the National People’s Power (NPP) government has now taken its first step toward realization with the official launch of the “Artha” National Programme.

The inaugural ceremony of the national initiative to provide a monthly allowance of Rs. 5,000 to children residing in orphanages and child care centers with the aim of uplifting their lives, was held on July 15 in Colombo with the participation of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.

The “Artha” National Programme which launched under the guidance of the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs is implemented in partnership with the National Savings Bank. From the monthly allowances of Rs. 5,000 allocated by the government per child, Rs. 3,000 will be provided to the management of the care homes for the children’s daily needs, while the remaining Rs. 2,000 will be deposited into a bank account under the child’s name. This saving is intended for the child to use in the future for educational or professional purposes upon reintegration into society.

Addressing the event, the Prime Minister emphasized that:

At times for children those who have lost the opportunity to live in their family homes under parental care for various reasons, children’s homes or similar care institutions become their final option. Ensuring the current well-being as well as the future security of children living in these institutions is a responsibility of the government.

As a government, we are responsible for guaranteeing the education and monitoring the physical and mental well-being of these children. The state cannot neglect the responsibility of caring for every child, regardless of their circumstances. In that regard, the “Artha” initiative being launched today becomes a meaningful national project. The main objective and vision of the Artha” initiative is to safeguard the present and future of these children without harming their identity.

The Prime Minister further added that the children in care homes should be treated as our very own children, and we must remember that they are equally entitled to all the rights and privileges afforded to other children. Ensuring those child rights is also a core goal of the “Artha” programme. While stating that it is everyone’s responsibility to treat these children with dignity, the Prime Minister called upon the Department of Probation and Child Care Services, which holds the main responsibility for the protection and welfare of these children, to fulfill their role properly.

A budget of Rs. 1 billion has been allocated for this project through the government’s first budget and through this, the Artha programme will provide Rs. 5,000 monthly to 9,191 children who have been abandoned, orphaned, or placed under institutional care through court orders residing in 356 child care institutions across the country. There are 356 institutions in this regard of taking care of children.

Addressing the gathering as the Minister in charge, Minister of Women and Child Affairs Saroja Savithri Paulraj stated that this is the first time in history that a government has implemented such a systematic plan to take responsibility for children living outside of their biological families. She emphasized that this is a humane responsibility and added that all citizens of the country have contributed to making this initiative a reality.

The event was attended by Deputy Speaker Mohamed Risvi Hameed, Minister of Justice Harshana Nanayakkara, Deputy Minister of Women and Child Affairs Dr. Namal Sudarshana, Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhantri, Secretary to the Ministry K.D. Olga, including the Chairman of the National Savings Bank, other ministers, district secretaries, and public officials, and caretakers and administrators of child care centers benefiting from the Artha programme, as well as children representing care homes, who brighten the event with their talents.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

With the new education reforms, every child will have access to either employment or higher education after leaving school.

Minister of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Education, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya

Minister of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Education, Prime Minister and, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, emphasized that the selection of underprivileged schools for development should be made with the approval of the District Development Committee and not based on favoritism and further stated that the new education reforms would ensure that all children will have the opportunity to either pursue employment or continue higher education after leaving school.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while addressing the awareness program held on July 13 at the Eastern Provincial Council premises, aimed at informing officials representing the Eastern Province about the proposed education reforms.

Addressing the discussion, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated:

This is a historic opportunity for all of us. Through these education reforms, we can provide high-quality education that aligns with global standards. Every child will receive an NVQ certificate that enables them to enter the workforce by the completion of school education.

Currently, the school system does not adequately prepare students for employment. As a result, universities are compelled to develop their soft skills. That skill development should start at the school level.

Starting from Grade 9, children will be given the opportunity to gain hands-on experience to decide on the profession they wish to pursue in the future. Whether they complete 11 or 13 years of education, students will have the choice to either take up a job or pursue a degree. If they wish, they can even work and study for a degree simultaneously.

The education reforms will not be limited to curriculum changes alone but will also focus on improving school infrastructure, teacher training, and fostering public discourse around the reform process.

The funds allocated this year for infrastructure development should be used appropriately. When selecting schools for development in underprivileged areas, do not base decisions on village affiliation or personal favoritism. Selection must be made through proper procedures with the approval of the District Development Committee. Children in difficult areas cannot receive quality education by restricting them to the outcast.

The Prime Minister also called on the Ministry of Education, the Provincial Council, Provincial Departments of Education, Zonal Offices, and Divisional Education Offices to work in collaboration during the reform process.

This event was attended by Eastern Province Governor Jayanta Lal Ratnasiri, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Employment Arun Hemachandra, Members of Parliament Roshan Akmeemana and S. Kugananthan, Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Nalaka Kaluwawa, officials representing the Ministry of Education, Department of Examinations, National Institute of Education, and Provincial Departments of Education, as well as Zonal Education Directors.

Prime Minister’s Media Division