32 000 Mahapola scholarships given in past three years

Over 32,000 university students have received Mahapola scholarships in the last three years worth Rs.2550 million.
The Mahapola scholarship fund has given 160,000 scholarships to university students since its inception in 1981.
The fund provided 11,000 scholarships in 2008, up from the 10,500 disbursed in 2007.
The scholarships are given based on merit and financial need. The merit based scholarships account for 10% of the total scholarships, while 90% are given based on both merit and financial needs.
A general scholarship is worth Rs.2500, while a merit based scholarship amounts to Rs. 2550.
The scholarships are given using the interest earned through the RS. 5.5 billion deposit and the income earned as a co owner of the Sri Lanka lotteries board.