Dialog Axiata with Manusath Derana Extends Data Scholarships to 100,000 Schoolchildren

left to right: Hon. Chandima Weerakkody - Member of Parliament, Mr. Dilith Jayaweera - Chairman, Derana, Prof. G. L. Peiris - Hon. Minister of Education, Mr. Supun Weerasinghe – Group Chief Executive, Dialog Axiata PLC, Mr. Manoj Priyankara, Principal – Angulugaha Maha Vidyalaya, Prof. Kapila Perera – Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Amali Nanayakkara – Group Chief Marketing Officer, Dialog Axiata PLC

In its continued efforts to ensure that no child is left behind in continuing their education, Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, together with TV Derana endeavoured to provide 100,000 schoolchildren in need with Data Scholarships under the ‘NanaDiri Data Scholarship’ programme to facilitate their online learning from home.

Through the NanaDiri Data Scholarship programme, which is part of the ‘Dialog Axiata with Manusath Derana’ initiative, each student will be offered 10GB Data for online learning and educational purposes for 3 months. Under this initiative, NenaDiri Data Scholarships were awarded to students at Angulugaha Maha Vidyalaya, Galle on 14th June with the participation of Ministry of Education officials and Dialog representatives.

“We cannot allow the pandemic to deprive our children of their education and development,” Hon. Minister of Education, Prof. G. L. Peiris stressed, continuing “We are grateful to Dialog and Manusath Derana for stepping forward during these turbulent times and providing these schoolchildren in need the opportunity to continue their online learning while also providing some form of financial relief to parents in the process. We are pleased to be a part of this great initiative driven by the collective aim of providing children that are most in need with a chance for a brighter future.”

Commenting, Prof. Kapila Perera, Secretary of Ministry of Education said, “I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Dialog and the Manusath Derana team for supporting the continuation of the education of these students who face many financial difficulties and don’t have the means to go online and learn. Thanks to this initiative, these students from rural schools now have equitable access to education along with the worldly opportunities and development that accompany it. We are pleased to be part of this initiative that will help those hit hardest by the pandemic get the support they need, while facilitating our students, who are the future of this country, with the necessary resources.”

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Supun Weerasinghe, Group Chief Executive of Dialog Axiata PLC said, “In the wake of the pandemic, one of our primary objectives is to secure the educational opportunities for children across the country with an emphasis on students who cannot afford to continue their education as the world shifts online. To bridge this divide, Dialog is pleased to present the ‘NenaDiri Data Scholarship Programme’ as another proactive solution to this emergent need. We remain committed to helping mitigate the impact to education due to covid lockdown and support our schoolchildren to excel during the pandemic.”

This is yet another initiative by Dialog in its continued efforts of supporting students across the country with their educational endeavours. In addition to this initiative, Dialog powers a range of educational platforms under the Nenasa initiative; Nenasa TV, Nenasa Smart School, Nenasa App and the toll-free Nenasa 1916 distance learning helpline. Dialog also extended free access to its education bouquet Nenasa Sinhala, Nenasa Tamil and Guru TV channels through Dialog Television and ViU App. Furthermore, the company extended free access without any data charges to e-Thaksalawa, the National Learning Content Management System (LCMS)/Learning Management System (LMS), and to all official e-Learning platforms of State Universities under the purview of the University Grants Commission.