India offering 44 undergrad, post grad scholarships

The Indian High Commission has announced the availability of 44 scholarships for undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral studies in universities and institutions in India for the academic year 2012 to 2013.

According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) news release, four of the scholarships will be offered under the Commonwealth Scho-larship Plan and 25 undergraduate and 15 post graduate scholarships under the Commonwealth 50th Anniversary Endowment Fund Scholarship Scheme. The scholarships will be administered by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

The tuition package includes a prospective candidate, international air fare, tutor, stipend, contingent grant, accommodation or house rent allowance, thesis and dissertation expenses. Instruction will be given in English.

”Last year over 90 students, the majority of whom were youths, successfully completed bachelor’s and post graduate degrees overseas in various academic fields through scholarship offers,” GINA said.

They pursued studies in Cuba, India, New Zealand, the USA, the Common-wealth Secretariat, United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica in areas such as medicine, architecture, agriculture, engineering, agronomy, veterinary medicine and computer science.

GINA said up to late last year over 2,800 Guyanese benefited from tertiary level training through scholarships, an achievement Minister of Public Service Dr. Jennifer Westford said is unparalleled.

The initiative intensified in 2006 when then President Bharrat Jagdeo and then Cuban President Fidel Castro sealed a deal for 500 scholarships in medicine. Veterinary doctors and engineers, agricultural scientists, meteorologists and agronomists were later included in the cadre of trained professionals.