Massive public-private partnership to take patriotism countrywide

Mother Sri Lanka, a unique Public Private Partnership aimed at promoting patriotism within the country by combining the efforts of the business community, the Government and the citizens of the country launched the last leg of the Mother Sri Lanka Schools Programme in Colombo last week.
The initiative which was kicked off in January this year aims at creating a 20 million strong family of Sri Lankans who are proud to call this country their home. The logo combines all three languages in the true spirit of unity as explained by Mother Sri Lanka Chairperson Janaki Kuruppu, who is also the Presidential Secretariat, Strategy and Perceptions Management Director. “Mother is in English and serves as the link language between Sri which is in Tamil and Lanka which is in Sinhala,” she said,
“It is aimed at building patriotism and most importantly, it is aimed at making people act on their patriotism to benefit the country.”
She informed that a year ago, the people of Sri Lanka were of a negative mindset about the future of the country, but even after the war ended, this pessimism continued. “The President wanted to change this mindset and wanted a drive to create optimism within the country and we are confident that our movement will take it forward.”
The movement is handled by an independent foundation called the Mother Sri Lanka Trust which is overlooked by the Presidential Secretariat and funded by several top corporates and NGOs. Currently, AMW, Phoenix Ventures Group are Gold Sponsors, Fonterra Group are Silver Sponsors, JKH, Ceylon Biscuits Group as Bronze Sponsors, Hemas Group, Lanka Bell and NSB are Award Sponsors and the Trustees are confident that many more private sector companies would follow.
Identifying the potential to reach 13 million Sri Lankans by launching the Mopther Sri Lanka movement in the school systems, Kuruppu explained that the Schools Programme will reach to 4.2 million children and twice as many parents.
“Most of the children born after 1983 do not know of a Sri Lanka without war,” she pointed out, “We need to give them a positive outlook of a Sri Lanka without the war.”
The Schools Programme is created on the lines of a competition where students from Grade A, B, C schools across eight provinces except the North are encouraged to come up with ideas for ways in which they could make their lives or their environment better. First unveiled in the Southern Province in February this year, the competition has now been rolled out to the Western Province. Kuruppu explained that the final All-Island Competition will showcase the hidden potential of the children to change the country positively.
Ministry of Education Deputy Director Piyadasa Marambage commented that the level of innovation that emerged from these schools through the competition has been amazing. “The Ministry of Education came forward voluntarily to assist the Mother Sri Lanka Trust because we saw the value of this programme and wanted to recognise students who do not have the opportunity to shine. And the results have been inspiring.”
In one instance, the students of the Batuwangala Maha Vidyalaya in Galle, which is a remote school on the foothills of the Sinharaja Forest, created their own mini-hydro plant to generate electricity for the computer lab in the school. They also created an effective waste disposal system within the school where the students are mobilised to clean up the environment at the sounding of a signal. Isuru Madushan, a student from the school explained that the programme had changed the lives of many students, giving them the opportunity to implement their ideas and get more exposure. “We’re a small school of around 300 students, but we have made an impact because we want to be a part of a brighter future.”