‘Rajamanthri scholarship’ is designed to be awarded to the best-performing students of levels 2, 3 and 4 of each semester in the Geography and Development Studies, by the Department of Geography, University of Kelaniya. Accordingly, twelve (12) students selected from each level had been awarded a certificate and a cash prize of 3000/= per each. This scholarship initially started in 2007 with a donation of Rs. 150,000/= by ‘Rajamanthri Foundation’ and has not functioned regularly in the recent past due to some unavoidable circumstances. The Department of Geography is planning to upgrade this scholarship into two separate awards as follows to be awarded at General Convocation, by discontinuing the existing scholarship due to the high demand of the students, under the consent of the director of Rajamanthri Foundation.

Late Professor M.P. Perera was the founding professors of the Department of Geography at the University of Kelaniya. He joined the university in 1959 and held various positions such as Head of the Department, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, President of the Vidyalankara Campus, and Vice Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya for many years. He was instrumental in establishing the Department of Geography, University of Kelaniya and contributed greatly to the academic field. Hence this gold medal is named after him to appreciate his distinguished services.

 Under the scheme, the newly proposed memorial awards are as follows.

1. Late Professor M.P. Perera Memorial Gold Medal for Academic Excellence in Geography, offered by Rajamanthri Foundation.
2. Gold Medal and a cash prize of Rs. 10,000/= for the Most Outstanding Student of the year in Geography, offered by Rajamanthri Foundation

Selection Criteria to identify the eligible candidate/s for the award.

LATE PROFESSOR M.P. PERERA MEMORIAL GOLD MEDAL FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE IN GEOGRAPHY, OFFERED BY RAJAMANTHRI FOUNDATION.

The award shall be presented to an undergraduate who has secured a first-class and the highest-Grade Point Average (GPA) or aggregate marks in the Honors Degree Program in Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya. The results verification will be done based on the evidence received from the IUCMS.

GOLD MEDAL AND A CASH PRIZE OF RS. 10,000/= FOR THE MOST OUTSTANDING STUDENT OF THE YEAR IN GEOGRAPHY, OFFERED BY RAJAMANTHRI FOUNDATION.

The gold medal scheme recognizes and rewards highly motivated students who show outstanding abilities in academic and extra-curricular activities, such as leadership, community service, sports, aesthetics, technical skills and research. The gold medal and the cash prize will be awarded based on two criteria: an undergraduate who has secured a first-class or a second-class upper division and the highest marks obtained under each following criterion. The verification of results will be done based on the evidence received from the ICCMS.

The proposed criterion for selecting the student is as follows.

• Applications: The Department publishes a notice to collect applications from students once their results have been published.
• Advertisement: The advertisement and the application will be circulated via the Department website, University's and official email addresses given to the students. The advertisement will announce the criteria, requirements, and deadlines for applying for the medal.
• Evidence: The students should provide all the evidence documents for each achievement together with the application.
• Time period: All the achievements need to be within the undergraduate period (4 academic years) in the University.
• Ineligibility: The eligible candidates should not have been penalized for disciplinary issues during their undergraduate career.
• Selection committee: The final decision on the eligible candidate/s for the award will be made by a committee chaired by the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, in collaboration with the Head of the Department and the most senior members of the staff from the Department of Geography.
• Attendance: It is a requirement to attend lectures and practical sessions for at least three-fourths of the classes during Levels of 2, 3, and 4.
• Minimum marks: A minimum of 60 marks is required for eligibility to be considered for the award, regardless of the Degree of Class.
• Awarding: The candidate who is selected and holds a First-class degree, meeting all other required criteria, will be honored with the Gold medal and cash prize during the General Convocation organized by the University of Kelaniya.

OR

The candidate who is selected and hold a Second-class upper degree, meeting all other required criteria, will be awarded the Gold medal and cash prize by the Dean of the FSS either at the faculty meeting or during a special event organized by the Department of Geography at the University of Kelaniya.

At the end of the deadline, the committee will evaluate the applicants' extra-curricular accomplishments according to a criteria that contains a in marking scheme (See; Table 01).

Table 01: Mark Allocation Criteria