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African scholarships announced

Oxford University has announced eight new annual scholarships for African graduates undertaking postgraduate study.

There will be five scholarships a year available for graduates from African Commonwealth countries, to study for part-time Master’s degrees in International Human Rights Law. International energy company ENI is sponsoring a further three scholarships for graduates from Angola, Ghana and Nigeria at St Antony’s College.

Dr Andrew Shacknove, Director of the International Human Rights Law programme, said that the scholarships were, “a rare opportunity for outstanding African human rights advocates to further their training, irrespective of their financial circumstances.”

The funding will be aimed at those who “are likely to take a leading role in furthering the human rights project in the coming years.”

The Eni Scholars Programme, which will commence in October 2011, is intended to nurture African students who have the potential to become future leaders in politics, business or public life, and was launched this February in a ceremony attended by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Both types of scholarship will cover tuition fees and living expenses, with an award of around £23,000 a year to successful applicants.

Nelson Oppong, a postgraduate student at Green Templeton College, secretary of the Oxford University African Students Society, and a current beneficiary of a similar scholarship scheme, commented that he was glad the university, “is demonstrably opening itself for brilliant Africans who are incapable of raising the funds needed to support quality education.”

He added, “Under the current regime of public cuts and worldwide economic crises, I am grateful that significant resources are reserved to support post-graduate study for African students.”

The Oxford African and Caribbean Society were also positive about the announcement. Vice President Didi Ogede observed, “Oxford has had a lot of bad press, regarding race discrimination and I think that schemes like this can only help in alleviating this stigma, and also encourage more African students to consider applying to the university.

“I see education as a panacea to unlocking the potential in an individual, and scholarships like these only enable this potential to be fully realised and achieved.”

 

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