23 November 2016 12:00 am Views - 1339
Twelve of Sri Lanka’s brightest young students have been rewarded by Commercial Bank of Ceylon with nearly Rs 750,000 in scholarships and cash prizes as Sri Lanka’s largest private bank began the disbursement of Arunalu rewards to top achievers at the 2016 Year-5 scholarship examination.
Total disbursements are expected to top Rs 5 million under this year’s rewards programme conducted by Arunalu – the bank’s signature savings account for children – which is designed to motivate and support student aspirations.
Among the first recipients of Arunalu scholarships this year were one student placed second in the island at the examination and four others placed third in the island. The five students, by virtue of being Arunalu account holders, will receive a total of Rs 467,500 in monthly instalments of Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,000 each respectively, till they turn 18.
The student placed first at the Year 5 scholarship examination received an outright cash grant of Rs 100,000 from Commercial Bank, while six others, comprising of non-Arunalu account holders placed second and third in the island received cash prizes of Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 each respectively.
A surprise gift of a laptop with software specially designed for visually affected users was presented by Commercial Bank Managing Director Jegan Durairatnam to a student from Kandy who achieved 181 marks after taking the examination in Braille language.
The bank said many more eligible Arunalu prize winners will be presented with their prizes at branch level in due course.
Launched in 1991, Arunalu is Commercial Bank’s key savings account for children of the school going age. The cash prize scheme introduced in 1998 is now the largest year-5 scholarship cash prize scheme in the country.
Arunalu rewards students placed first, second or third at the national, district or school levels, through a three-tiered scholarships scheme. Intended to inspire young students and emphasise the value of good education, Commercial Bank’s Arunalu Savings Account pays up to Rs 382,500 to the top three scorers island-wide at the 2016 Year-5 scholarship examination, if they have Arunalu accounts in their names.
On this basis, the student or students placed first in the island each receive up to Rs 170,000 in monthly instalments of Rs 2,000 till the age of 18. Similarly, students placed second in the island receive up to Rs 127,500 in monthly instalments of Rs 1,500, while those placed third in the island receive up to Rs. 85,000 in monthly instalments of Rs. 1,000 each.
Additionally, students ranked 1st in their respective districts at the examination receive up to Rs. 50,000 if they are Arunalu account holders, and account holders who are placed first, second and third in their schools receive cash prizes of Rs 10,000, Rs 7,500 and Rs 5,000 each respectively.
In 2013, Commercial Bank’s Arunalu children’s savings account paid Rs 4 million in cash rewards to students placed first, second and third in their respective schools at the Year-5 scholarship examination. In 2014, the total paid out under the scheme increased to Rs 5.3 million and to Rs 5.5 million in 2015.
Arunalu accounts can be opened for children below 18 years of age at any of Commercial Bank’s branches island-wide.