EU scholarships opening doors with the educational key to success
It is said that education is the key to success and this week, the University of Belize is cementing that idea by creating new opportunities for its students to tap into tertiary level studies in Europe. The break comes through the Erasmus Mundos scholarship programme that caters to all African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, including Belize. Today officials of the programme met with the media to explain in detail what the scope of the project is. Marion Ali was there and files this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
With global funds swiftly disappearing, the announcement that more monies have been allocated for education in Europe must be good news to students pursuing tertiary level degrees. That news came this morning from officials of Erasmus Mundos of the European Union.
Denis Salord, Senior Official, European Commission
Denis Salord
“We are preparing, designing our new program entitled Intra ACP Mobility, which means in the future that your Belizean will fund scholarships for students like Belizean students to continue studies in another Caribbean university. I think it’s a chance for your university to improve a lot of enthusiasts to continue in this way.”
Marion Ali
“How much money are we talking about?”
Denis Salord
“Altogether for all programs we have on higher education for the four or five coming years is almost two hundred million Euros for all ACP countries. What we are looking for is to try to have exchange and mobility of students, but also mobility of academics and also mobility of university managers.”
Renata Russell
Renata Russell, Official, European Commission
“Potentially students can do master’s in any area that is relevant to them so there are no limitations on what is possible. Of course we encourage that the students take up studies which are relevant, not just to the individuals but also to the needs of the universities and the needs of the country.”
Marion Ali
“Will there be priority given to some countries over others?”
Renata Russell
“The selection process is common to all the countries and it si the totality of the proposal that the grouping and the consortium of universities that are putting together will look at.”
But while the opportunity now exists, the next question is how easy will it be for Belizean students to access scholarships considering they will have to compete with so many countries?
Dr. Angel Cal
Dr. Angel Cal, Interim Provost, UB
“The possibility of our students getting into this program will depend on their own abilities, their own competencies, their grades, their recommendations, whatever are the requirements that the scholarship calls for and for that there could be as many as our students can make it. There can be ten, there can be twenty, there can be thirty, depending on how well our students compete.”
Marion Ali
“Does that place a direct burden on our educational system and how we prepare our students locally? Will that be put to the test in terms of comparing our educational system to the rest of the world?”
Dr. Angel Cal
“That is an important factor. It always is because our students are to a large extent a product of our programs. And so, as I was pointing out, we have been focusing on both associate and bachelor degree programs and we don’t think that in the near future we can produce a whole many of post graduate programs. Our students do very well, so I’m confident that if our students apply, follow the requirements, they are likely to do well.”
Tracy Sangster is a lecturer at UB and returned home at the end of 2009 after completing her Master’s degree in English through the Erasmus programme.
Tracy Sangster
Tracy Sangster, Lecturer, Erasmus Mundos Scholar
“Every experience that you have outside of yourself is enriching and this is what Erasmus Mundos does and this is what it has done for me. It has enriched my international experience and I have been able to come back to Belize and share that with my students, but share that with people too that hey listen, we have an input to make and we need to also receive the fact that there are other who want to input into our lives.”
The Erasmus Mundos Scholarship Program is financed by the European Union through its International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation. Over the next five years the EU will provide thirty million Euros to fund the programme. Reporting for News Five, Marion Ali.
The University of Belize secured nine scholarships for its faculty, staff and students when it signed on as a partner institution with the scholarship program. Six of those scholarships were for Master’s degrees at universities in France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Sweden and three for one month staff exchanges. At the end of 2009 a lecturer at UB completed her Master’s degree programme through one of the scholarships.
