| VANCOUVER - Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy, announced today the distribution of Cdn.$1.75 million over five years for a pilot programme offering Canadian scholarships to students from the Caribbean. The pilot will be administered by the Vancouver-based Commonwealth of Learning - the only Commonwealth intergovernmental organisation to be located outside of the UK. While the students will be taking courses and earning degrees from Canadian universities, they need not leave their home countries. They will be studying "at a distance" using specifically designed materials and taking advantage of modern communications technologies. The programme is an expansion of the current Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan, which has until now sent students from developing countries to live elsewhere while they earn their degrees. "A scheme such as this will not only bring the total cost of study down," says COL President [Dato'] Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan , "but will also help in minimising disruptions in the personal lives of students." "Downstream benefits also include the furthering of co-operative working relationships between the Canadian universities and the Caribbean educational institutions that will serve as hosts for the students. Unlike other study-abroad schemes, this one will ensure that the local institutions are partners in the arrangements, providing them with opportunities for growth." Scholarships will be available in the fields of teacher education, information technology, and hospitality management. |