European Union Ambassador to Solomon Islands and Vanuatu has met with the successful candidates from Solomon Islands who have been offered scholarships to study in Caribbean.
His Excellency Leonidas Tezapsidis met with the lucky recipients at the EU Delegation office in Honiara on Monday.
A statement from the EU office in Honiara said, under the Caribbean-Pacific Islands Mobility Scheme (CARPIMS), the EU will be funding a total of some 300 scholarships for post-graduate studies and exchanges in the Caribbean during the period 2011-2018.
“The scholarships provide monthly stipends of 600-1,000 Euros and cover tuition fees and travel/insurance costs. Scholarship duration varies from one month to three years.”
CARPIMS is an Intra-ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) cooperation and mobility programme in the area of Higher Education. It focuses on and is implemented by Caribbean and Pacific tertiary education institutions with the support of EU’s “Education, Audio-visual and Culture Executive Agency” (EACEA).
The aim is to strengthen institutional capacities and to encourage socioeconomic development by facilitating access of students and academic or administrative staff from the two regions to a wide variety of postgraduate degrees and research opportunities.
The statement said, participants will hopefully create a cadre of well-trained and open-minded individuals who can develop new disciplines and competencies for the benefit of their respective countries.
A total of fifteen scholars from the South Pacific were selected for CARPIMS scholarships in 2015, nine of which from Solomon Islands and two from Vanuatu.
The nine Solomon Islands scholars – six female and 3 male – will undertake their studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI), the CARPIMS lead coordinator based in Trinidad & Tobago. Each scholar is expected to complete his/her studies within 24 months.
During the meeting, the Solomon Islands scholarship-holders expressed their appreciation to the European Union for the opportunity that it has given them to pursue further pertinent studies.
They briefed the Ambassador on their professional ambitions and plans for Master’s Degree Programmes on Biodiversity Conservation & Sustainable Development; Tourism Development & Management; Marine & Terrestrial Ecosystems; Environmental Engineering; and Production Engineering & Management.
Ambassador Tezapsidis congratulated the successful candidates for their efforts and wished them well in their studies. He also gave the students an insight of the European Union role and activities in Solomon Islands.
The Solomon Islands scholars applied for the CARPIMS scholarships in April 2015 and were selected in June on the basis of their qualifications, motivation and stated plans to contribute to the development of their home institution, country and region.
The scholars will travel to Fiji on 25 August to obtain their US transit visas before continuing to their final destination in the Caribbean on 30 August. Their studies will start on 1 September 2015.
