Hemas Piyawara opens Pre-School off Kantale

The Hemas Piyawara Initiative recently opened its newest Pre-School in Ganthalawa, a remote area 06 Km off Kantale. Built at a cost of Rs. 5.3 million, the Pre-School has 78 children and is headed by three dedicated teachers. Funding for this project came from Mr. Ness Yammin, a generous donor in Monaco, through Ms. Chintha Senanayaka, a Sri Lankan resident there.

Chief Guest on the occasion was the Ven. Bandagiriye Somawansa Thera, Director of the National Children's Education Foundation. Also present were Director Hemas Holdings Abbas Esufally, Corporate Relations Manager of Hemas Holdings Ms. Shiromi Masakorale and several others.

The Ven. Bandagiriye Somawansa Thera said it was a great blessing to have corporates such as Hemas which are dedicated to the uplift of ECCD in Sri Lanka. "I admire projects such as Piyawara which are done with the least publicity and which yet do so much for the betterment of children. The improvement of the quality of early childhood education is critical since it lays the foundation for the long-term development of the country. As an ECCD specialist I greatly value Hemas' services in the East despite logistical difficulties"

Corporate Relations Manager of Hemas Holdings, Ms. Shiromi Masakorale said that Hemas involvement with the Ganthalawa Pre-School began in 2004. "It was then housed in a small shed with 42 children. We enrolled the teachers in our annual Piyawara teacher training programme and formed a Parent Teacher Association to develop the infrastructure. With an initial donation of Rs. 50,000/-, we were in constant touch with the school and monitored its progress. We even conducted parental awareness programmes and brought the teachers to Colombo annually for training".

Launched in 2003, Piyawara is the CSR project of the Hemas Group in collaboration with the Ministry of Child Development and Women's Empowerment. Piyawara has as its aim, the promotion of higher standards in early childhood development, by setting up child friendly model preschools and creating awareness throughout Sri Lanka. Piyawara activities are categorised under education, psycho-social, health and environment targeting their employees, the community and society at large.

Masakorale said that since the development of the Eastern province is a high priority on the national agenda, corporates need to support this initiative to ensure sustainable peace. "With this in mind we opened a 'Piyawara' Children's Park in the Pottuvil area in May this year. Hemas already has three Piyawara Pre-Schools in the East – in Kalmunai, Navadanveli and Sammanthurai - each at a cost of Rs. 5 million. We plan to concentrate our CSR projects in the Eastern province, despite the logistical difficulties".

Piyawara is currently operational through 32 pre-schools island wide. The Hemas Group, together with the Ministry of Child Development and Women's Empowerment conducts many training programmes for teachers and parents island-wide, in order to promote the concept of child friendly Pre-Schools.

Last September, Piyawara, won an Award of Excellence for Support and Improvement of Education in Asia region as an outstanding, innovative and sustainable project in Asia, presented by the Asian Institute of Management at the annual Asian CSR Awards 2007 in Vietnam. Since its launch five years ago, Piyawara has touched the lives of thousands of children from all parts of Sri Lanka, from North to South and East to West, thereby resulting in a better quality of education for the pre-schoolers.

Hemas Holdings PLC is one of Sri Lanka's top conglomerates with a focus on five key sectors - FMCG, Healthcare, Transportation, Leisure and Power.