UK to double scholarships for PH

The United Kingdom government targets to double the number of scholarships to be made available to Filipinos under the Chevening Programme, as it has identified the Philippines as one of the countries to be prioritized for additional slots.

“We are investing in future Philippine leaders as part of our partnership with the Philippines. In this 30th year of Chevening, we are making a major new commitment to the Chevening Programme which will allow more future leaders from the Philippines to study at world-class universities in the UK,” British Ambassador Asif Ahmad said in a statement issued Tuesday.

“This year we are working with private sector partners who also want to help build Philippine capacity such as Bank of the Philippine Islands, GlaxoSmithKline Philippines Inc., First Pacific Leadership Academy and San Miguel Corp.,” he added.

According to the British Embassy in Manila, Chevening Scholarships are aimed at future leaders, influencers and decision-makers who are working toward shaping their country’s development. An extra P2.4 billion will be invested over a period of two years (2015-2016 and 2016-2017), to ensure that an additional 1,000 scholarships will be available globally.

For the current school year, a total of nine scholars from the Philippines will be pursuing graduate studies though the Chevening Programme.

This is expected to at least double for the next school year, during which a special feature of Chevening in the Philippines will be to ensure that the program contributes to the UK’s support of the Mindanao peace process.

The target was to identify at least five scholars for 2015-2016 who can make a positive difference to realizing the vision of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB), as part of the British Embassy’s goal of ensuring diversity.

The Chevening Programme, which is open to 144 countries, is a prestigious scholarship that allows overseas students to study a one-year masters degree course on various fields such as economics, finance, human rights, law, international relations, journalism, engineering and development studies, in UK universities.