Harini Amarasuriya facts for kids

Harini Nireka Amarasuriya (born March 6, 1970) is a Sri Lankan sociologist and politician. She became the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 2024.

Before becoming Prime Minister, Harini Amarasuriya worked as a university teacher for ten years. She was also involved in a teachers' union. In 2020, she became a Member of Parliament for the National People's Power (NPP) party.

In September 2024, she was appointed Prime Minister. She also held several other important government jobs temporarily. She is the third woman to be Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. The other two were Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga. After a big win for her party in the 2024 election, she was reappointed Prime Minister. She received a very high number of votes, showing strong public support.

Early Life and Education

Harini Amarasuriya was born in Galle, Sri Lanka, on March 6, 1970. She was the youngest of three children. Her father was a planter, and her mother was a homemaker.

Her family moved to Colombo when she was young. This happened after the government took over her father's land. She went to Bishop's College in Colombo. She also spent a year in the United States as an exchange student.

Harini Amarasuriya received a scholarship to study Sociology in India. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Delhi. Later, she earned a Master of Arts degree from Macquarie University. She then completed her PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh and Queen Margaret University.

Academic and Activist Work

After finishing her PhD, Harini Amarasuriya joined the Open University of Sri Lanka in 2011. She worked as a senior lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences. She later became the head of this department.

She has done important research on human rights in Sri Lanka. She also studied how certain groups influence society.

Fighting for Teachers' Rights

Harini Amarasuriya was a member of the Federation of University Teachers' Association (FUTA). She actively participated in their efforts to improve working conditions for university staff. They also worked to ensure fair treatment for all teachers.

Advocating for Education Funding

Amarasuriya strongly believes in free education for everyone in Sri Lanka. She wants all students to have equal access to good quality education. She believes this should happen no matter how much money their families have.

She campaigned with FUTA in 2011 and 2012. They asked the government to spend 6% of the country's total income (GDP) on education. In 2023, Sri Lanka only spent 2% of its GDP on education.

Political Journey

Becoming a Member of Parliament

Harini Amarasuriya joined the National Intellectuals Organization in 2019. She supported Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the 2019 presidential election. In August 2020, she was chosen by the NPP party to become a National List Member of Parliament. This meant she entered the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka.

She resigned from her job as a senior lecturer at the Open University. This allowed her to focus fully on her new political career.

As a Member of Parliament, she worked on several important issues. She focused on bringing people together and including everyone in society. She also supported gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights. She was involved in animal welfare and served on the board of a non-governmental organization called Nest.

Becoming Prime Minister (2024–Present)

On September 24, 2024, Harini Amarasuriya became the Sixteenth Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake officially appointed her. She is the first Prime Minister from her party. She is also the third woman to hold this important position.

When she first became Prime Minister, her government was very small. She was given many important jobs at once. These included Minister of Justice, Health, Women, Education, and Trade. This was a temporary arrangement until a new parliament was elected.

Changes in Education

After becoming Minister of Education, Harini Amarasuriya started new changes. She stopped the old practice of inviting politicians to school events. Her goal was to remove political influence from schools.

The 2024 Parliamentary Election

Harini Amarasuriya is the Deputy Secretary of the NPP party. She led the party's candidates from the Colombo District in the 2024 Sri Lankan parliamentary election.

She achieved a new record by getting the highest number of votes in the Colombo District. She received 655,289 votes. This was more than a previous record set by Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2020. However, another candidate, Vijitha Herath, received even more votes in a different district in the same election.

After the parliamentary election, Harini Amarasuriya was re-appointed as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. She was also appointed as the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education.

Electoral History

Personal Life

Harini Amarasuriya is not married and does not have children.

Honours

In October 2024, the Postal Department released a special stamp featuring Prime Minister Amarasuriya. This event caused some discussion.

See also

In Spanish: Harini Amarasuriya para niños