150 professionals scoop Australian scholarships for further
studies
AL-MAHDI SSENKABIRWA
More than 150 professionals from East Africa have
scooped scholarships to pursue Masters and PhD degrees in Australian
Universities.
Out of the 150 beneficiaries, 33 are Ugandans.
When asked to reveal names of the
Ugandan beneficiaries, Asif Khan, the programme manager in charge of
scholarships at the Australian High Commission said in an email to this news
paper yesterday that their privacy regulations bar them from giving names of
the beneficiaries “unless expressly authorised by the awardees”.
According to a statement issued by the Australian government,
the beneficiaries will start their academic programmes in
January 2013 .
Australian High Commissioner to Kenya ,Mr Geoff
Tooth said in a statement that the objective of giving out the
scholarships was to provide high-quality education and training to talented
African professionals who will be able to make meaningful contribution to
national and regional development on their return home.
“Our scholarships are concentrated in areas where
Australia is recognised as having world-leading expertise, including
Agriculture, Governance, Health, Mining, Natural Resource Management, and Water
and Sanitation,” he said
The scholarships are part of the Australia Awards in Africa
programme which in 2012 has offered over 1,000 postgraduate scholarships to
African professionals. 51 countries participated in the programme which
includes; Long-term Awards for studies in Australia and Short Course Awards for
professional development training in both Australia and Africa. Of this number,
384 Masters-level and 20 Agricultural PhD Awardees will take up study at
Australian universities .
The number of Australian government scholarships for Africa has
increased ten-fold over the past three years. One-quarter of all Australian
development scholarships are now directed to Africa.
Applications for the latest round of Australian Government masters
level scholarships opened on 1 September 2012 and will close on 14 December
2012.
Awardees enjoy a range of benefits including the full cost of
tuition, training materials, accommodation, living expenses, health insurance
for basic medical and hospital care in Australia, and travel.
Australia Awards promotes equal participation by both women and men.
The initiative also aims to ensure that people with disability are given a fair
and equal opportunity to compete for and obtain scholarships. The Australian
Government has put mechanisms in place to support applicants and Awardees
requiring specific assistance.
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