Twelve of Sri Lanka’s brightest young students have been rewarded by Commercial Bank of Ceylon with nearly Rs 750,000 in scholarships and cash prizes as Sri Lanka’s largest private bank began the disbursement of ‘Arunalu’ rewards to top achievers at the 2016 Year 5 scholarship examination.
Total disbursements are expected to top Rs 5 million under this year’s rewards programme conducted by ‘Arunalu’ – the Bank’s signature Savings Account for Children – which is designed to motivate and support student aspirations.
Among the first recipients of Arunalu scholarships this year were one student placed second in the island at the examination and four others placed third in the island. The five students, by virtue of being Arunalu account holders, will receive a total of Rs 467,500 in monthly instalments of Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,000 each respectively, till they turn 18.
The student placed first at the Year 5 scholarship examination received an outright cash grant of Rs 100,000 from Commercial Bank, while six others, comprising of non-Arunalu account holders placed second and third in the island received cash prizes of Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 each respectively.
A surprise gift of a laptop with software specially designed for visually affected users was presented by Commercial Bank Managing Director Mr Jegan Durairatnam to a student from Kandy who achieved 181 marks after taking the examination in Braille language.
The Bank said many more eligible Arunalu prize winners will be presented with their prizesat branch level in due course.
Launched in 1991, Arunalu is Commercial Bank’s key savings account for children of the school going age. The cash prize scheme introduced in 1998 is now the largest year 5 Scholarship cash prize scheme in the country.
Arunalu rewards students placed first, second or third at the national, district or school levels, through a three-tiered scholarships scheme. Intended to inspire young students and emphasise the value of good education, Commercial Bank’s Arunalu Savings Account pays up to Rs 382,500 to the top three scorers island-wide at the 2016 Year 5 Scholarship examination, if they have Arunalu accounts in their names.
On this basis, the student or students placed first in the island each receive up to Rs 170,000 in monthly instalments of Rs 2,000 till the age of 18. Similarly, students placed second in the island receive up to Rs 127,500 in monthly instalments of Rs 1,500, while those placed third in the island receive up to Rs. 85,000 in monthly instalments of Rs. 1,000 each.
Additionally, students ranked 1st in their respective districts at the examination receive up to Rs. 50,000 if they are Arunalu account holders, and account holders who are placed first, second and third in their schools receive cash prizes of Rs 10,000, Rs 7,500 and Rs 5,000 each respectively.
In 2013, Commercial Bank’s Arunalu Children’s Savings Account paid Rs 4 million in cash rewards to students placed first, second and third in their respective schools at the Year 5 scholarship examination. In 2014, the total paid out under the scheme increased to Rs 5.3 million and to Rs 5.5 million in 2015.
‘Arunalu’ accounts can be opened for children below 18 years of age at any of Commercial Bank’s branches island-wide.
The only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the Top 1000 banks of the world for six years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 251 branches and 650 ATMs in Sri Lanka. The Bank has won multiple awards as Sri Lanka’s Best Bank, Best Trade Bank, Strongest Bank, Most Respected Bank from a number of local and international institutions and publications over several years and has also been adjudged one of Sri Lanka’s 10 best corporate citizens by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce for several years.
Commercial Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 18 outlets, Myanmar, where it has a Representative Office in Yangon and the Maldives, where the Bank opened a fully-fledged Tier I Bank in September 2016. The Bank has also received a license to operate a fully-owned Money Transfer Operation in Italy.
Photo caption: (Above) Commercial Bank’s Managing Director Mr Jegan Durairatnam presents a laptop to a Year 5 scholarship winner with visual disability and (Below) the Bank’s Deputy General Manager Personal Banking Mrs Sandra Walgama with some of the Arunalu rewards recipients for 2016 at the award ceremony.