Students from Commonwealth countries can now pursue postgraduate study in a new range of destinations thanks to scholarships announced this week under the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan.
Up to 15 scholarships are available during 2014-2015 for international students to study for Master’s degrees at universities in ten low and middle income Commonwealth countries, including Bangladesh, Barbados, Ghana and South Africa.
These scholarships will complement the hundreds of Commonwealth Scholarships already offered each year by the governments of more established host countries such as New Zealand, India, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom, and is in line with a drive towards broadening opportunities for international scholarships throughout the Commonwealth.
According to Dr John Kirkland, Deputy Secretary General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the scholarships are intended to provide life-changing opportunities for students from both developed and developing Commonwealth countries. They also serve as a statement of the ability of universities in many parts of the Commonwealth to host international students.
"Although higher education is often described as a global activity, all too often this relates to one-way traffic," Dr Kirkland said. "These scholarships help to make the globalisation of higher education a reality."
The scholarships are funded by the expansion of the CSFP endowment fund, raised by the ACU and Commonwealth Secretariat following the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in 2009. The fund has attracted donations from over 200 alumni of the Commonwealth Scholarship programme, and 13 Commonwealth governments. In the spirit of the fund, several of the host universities have also contributed by waiving or reducing their normal tuition fee levels.
It is hoped that 2015 will see scholarships tenable in a wider range of Commonwealth countries including Cameroon, Mauritius, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and at the University of the South Pacific – all of whom are already hosting Scholars from the 2013 competition.
Further information on the scholarships, links to the host universities and application forms
Closing dates range from 31 May to 31 July 2014.
