The Foundation
Sri Lanka - Canada Scholarship Foundation (SLCSF) is a non-profit, volunteer organization registered in British Columbia, Canada. Since 2008, Canada Revenue Agency has approved it as a charitable organization, making donations to SLCSF tax-deductible. Its main objective is to advance education by providing scholarships and educational material to financially disadvantaged students in Sri Lanka, who continually demonstrate academic excellence.
The Foundation has been established in 1998. Since then, over 1350 students have received financial assistance through scholarships up to 2013.
How can you be a part of realizing a child's dreams?
Just by donating Canadian $12.50 (or, an equivalent amount in other currencies) a month, you can become the sponsor of a needy student, who will thank you from his/her heart for helping them to realize their dreams and help their families in turn. While 42 cents a day may not be a big amount for you, it makes a world of difference for many students in Sri Lanka - and it also gives tremendous satisfaction to you by realizing that you have really made a child's dream come true!!
The current focus is on students in Sri Lanka who are studying in grades 12 and 13. The Foundation annually selects a number of students (the number depending on the level of contributions received from sponsors) and provides Sri Lankan Rupees 1500 per student per month for a total of 24 months (i.e., two years). Any additional savings resulting from increased Canadian $/Sri Lankan Rupee exchange rate are pooled and used to provide additional scholarships.
With the exception of direct expenses such as bank service charges, postage, stationary and annual registration fees of the Foundation, all donations go directly to the students. There are no paid staff in the Foundation. All advertising costs and other miscellaneous costs are not paid from the sponsor donations, but are borne by other general donations from supporters of the Foundation.
Sponsoring a Memorial Scholarship
With the Memorial Scholarship Program, you can sponsor one or more scholarships in loving memory of deceased family members, relatives, friends or anyone close to your heart.
The scholarship(s) will be specifically named as "Name-provided-by-you Memorial Scholarship(s)" and will be awarded to the recipient student(s) indicating as such. We will also separately list these memorial scholarships and their recipients in our annual newsletter. We believe this is an excellent way to ensure that the name of your deceased family member or anyone close to your heart continues to live on, while you are paving the path for a needy student to become successful in life!
The same selection criteria of regular scholarships will apply to these scholarships as well. The sponsor financial commitment is still $150 per year for a total of $300 for 2 years. The recipient student will get Sri Lankan Rupees 1500 per student per month for a total of 24 months.
How do you know whether your donations really go to the students?
Students periodically write to their sponsors, appreciating their kindness, generosity and how the donations make their dreams come true. You may directly write to them if you wish. All the names of sponsors, students and the Foundation's annual financial statements are published in a newsletter annually (see current and past newsletters) and sent to the sponsors and other supporters of the Foundation.
How are the students selected?
By advertising in Sri Lankan newspapers, applications are invited from students who satisfy the following criteria:
- An academic achievement of a minimum of seven (7) 'A' passes (out of 9 subjects) in the most recent GCE O/L (General Certificate of Education - Ordinary Level) examination.
- GCE (O/L) examination results certified by the school principal.
- A certification from the Grama Officer (the Government Representative for the area of residence of the student) attesting to the suitability of the student for financial support for education, based on the economic standing of the family.
Out of the applications received that satisfy the above criteria, the Board of Directors select the most deserving children based on a priority ranking of academic excellence, economic hardships and other factors such as family handicaps (eg: deceased parents), for the award of the scholarships. After the scholarship has been awarded, the student's suitability for continued assistance is evaluated, based on their performance in the examinations conducted by the schools.
Board of Directors
President
Lal Samarasekera, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Secretary
Bandula Abeysundara, M.Sc., Ph.D., P.Eng.
Treasurer
Sisira Hewa Bandula
Sri Lankan Coordinator
Devika Jayawardena, FCA (LK), FCMA (UK)
Additional Sri Lankan Coordinators
Gunadya Bandarage, Ph.D.
Praneeth Abhayasundere, Ph.D.
Newsletter Editor & Webmaster
Gayan Abeysundara, B.C.S.