Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya presented certificates of appreciation and financial assistance of Rs. 100,000 each to 50 students with disabilities at the Swami Vipulananda Institute of Aesthetic Studies of the Eastern University on Saturday.

The ceremony was the third phase of the “Sarasavi Diriya Abhiman” programme, run by the President’s Fund to recognise university students with disabilities. The recipients study at the Eastern and South-Eastern universities. The programme previously honoured 75 Northern Province students in Jaffna in August.

The Prime Minister said building a respectful education system that treats everyone equally is a fundamental objective of the government, which had accepted responsibility for ensuring a better future for students with disabilities.

“I feel very proud of all of you. You have set a good example to the world about how to move forward without giving up despite the challenges,” Dr. Amarasuriya said, also thanking the students’ parents.

Wider measures announced

Dr. Amarasuriya said free education should not be limited to textbooks and financial assistance but must also provide a workable environment in which to study. She listed several measures:

The Prime Minister also credited Eastern Province Divisional Secretariats with implementing President’s Fund activities at regional level. Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne and Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Minister Sunil Handunnetti attended.

Update (September 13): this was the final phase

Hiru News, filing a day later, reports that the Eastern University ceremony was the final phase of this year’s programme, following earlier phases held in Colombo and Jaffna — three phases in all. It puts the total number of recipients nationwide at nearly 400 students for 2026.

Hiru also describes the hostel project more narrowly than the Daily Mirror did: it says the accommodation is being built for approximately 16,000 female university students within three years, and that explicit instructions have been issued for all new accommodation to be fully accessible to students with disabilities. The Daily Mirror account did not specify either the three-year timeline or that the hostels are for female students.

Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne told the ceremony that President’s Fund services, previously concentrated in Colombo, have been extended to Divisional Secretariat level and were fully digitalised as of 21 June 2025. He said applications to the fund rose 59 per cent in 2025 against 2024, with a further 43.3 per cent increase in the first eight months of 2026 against the same period last year.

Update (September 14): the government settles “third” against “final”

The government’s own news service has since filed on the ceremony, and its account resolves the apparent conflict between the Daily Mirror’s “third phase” and Hiru’s “final phase”: it was both. news.lk describes the Batticaloa event as “the third and final programme for this year,” with the first held in Colombo and the second in Jaffna. It confirms the date as 12 September, the figure of 50 students from the Eastern and South Eastern universities, and nearly 400 students recognised nationwide this year.

The programme does not end here. President’s Fund official Roshan Gamage told the ceremony that “from now onwards, every student with a disability who gains admission to a university will receive this Rs. 100,000 financial assistance from the President’s Fund” — answering this article’s open question about whether the scheme runs again. He also described it as the first programme of its kind in Sri Lanka, decided on by the Fund’s Board of Governors under the President’s chairmanship.

news.lk quotes the Prime Minister framing the effort under the government’s “A Thriving Nation – A Beautiful Life” objective, and confirms her point that free education means more than books and materials — it means creating the environment needed to learn, with accommodation the main problem university students currently face.

Still not reported

None of the three accounts says how many of the eligible students remain uncovered, when hostel construction begins or what it costs, or where the digital equipment pilot now stands. None explains what drove the sharp rise in President’s Fund applications. None gives the value of the programme in total, or says how a student’s eligibility is assessed now that the assistance is to be automatic on university admission.

Sources