Scholarships for public sector officials

The Japanese Grant Aid for the Human Resources Development Scholarship Program (JDS) was introduced in Sri Lanka in 2010 by the Japanese Government to enable executive level public sector officials of Sri Lanka follow Masters Degree programs in prominent universities in Japan.

Sixty officials were enrolled for the Master Degree Program in three leading universities in Japan in the fields of Policy and Public Finance, Public Administration, Regional Development and Macro and Development Economics under the first framework of this program (2010-2013).

While 30 officials of the first and second batches have completed their Masters Degree Programs successfully, the rest are reading for their degrees in Japan.

The Japanese Government will provide grant assistance of Japanese Yen 215 million (approximately Rs. 245 million) to Sri Lanka for the first year (2014) of the second framework of this program which will be implemented from 2014 to 2017.

An exchange of notes between the two Governments and a Grant Agreement between the Government and JICA for the implementation of the Human Resources Development Scholarship Program were signed last week at the Ministry of Finance and Planning.

"Officials who benefit under this program will contribute to the social and economic development of the country.

"The program will also strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries," a JICA spokesman said.