Students receive Australian scholarships

Published in the Daily Graphic on 15/03/2010 pg 55

Story: Matilda Attram
Forty-three students from five West African countries have received scholarships under the Australian Development Scholarship to further their education in that country.
They include 11 each from Ghana and Nigeria, seven from Liberia, six from Sierra Leone and eight from The Gambia.
The 43 are to undertake their masters degree programmes and postgraduate studies in the fields of food and agriculture, security, mining and natural resource management, public sector reform and child and maternal health within two years.
The objective is to help developing countries reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development, in line with Australia's national interest.
At a pre-departure briefing ceremony in Accra, the Australian High Commissioner, Mr William Billy Williams, said the initiative was aimed at maximising the benefits of Australia's extensive scholarship programmes to support enduring ties between Australia and other countries.
He said the programme would be extended to offer awards to students from 25 countries in Africa by 2011, at which time it would extend the award to 1,000 students per year across the continent.
He explained that the Australian government was helping countries in the West African sub-region achieve the Millennium Development Goals agreement set out between developing and developed countries.
Mr Williams said the Australian government, through AusAID, an Australian government agency that manages its overseas aid programme, provided official development assistance for 75 countries, with a strong focus on the Asia-Pacific region.
The Programmes Manager of Gunn Rural Management of the Australian Development Scholarship (GRM-ADS), Mr Matthew Pritchard, took participants through the process of their stay and study in Australia.