The Mahapola Higher Education Scholarship Trust Fund has introduced an information system that lets university students look up details of their scholarship payments online.
Fund Chairman and retired Supreme Court Justice Vijith Malalgoda said the system will give students information on the disbursement of Mahapola scholarship funds, NewsFirst reported.
It becomes available to students this month through the fund’s official website, mahapola.lk. The stated aim is to make payment and disbursement details easier for students to access.
NewsFirst did not report whether students need to register for access, what identification is required, or how far back payment records will go.
Sri Lanka’s main higher education grant
The Mahapola fund was established under the Mahapola Higher Education Scholarship Trust Fund Act No. 66 of 1981 to provide financial assistance to students in higher education. It remains the principal scholarship scheme for Sri Lankan undergraduates, paying a monthly allowance into recipients’ bank accounts.
Payment queries have been a recurring source of friction for students, who have generally had to go through their universities or the University Grants Commission to trace an instalment. A self-service record would remove a step from that process.
The scheme is distinct from the University Grants Commission’s Rs. 5,000 monthly allowance for differently-abled undergraduates, which is administered separately. Registration for Mahapola scholarships closed in late July.
