Fund aims to increase range of countries in which Commonwealth Scholarships are available

A new fund is bucking the trend of Commonwealth Scholars from the developing world going to study in developed countries.

Launched in June last year, the endowment fund, which already stands at £1.8 million, is encouraging Scholars from both developed and developing countries to study in low and middle income states. By supplementing the traditional 'South-to-North' scholarships with 'South-to-South' and 'North-to-South' awards, the Fund aims to promote academic excellence throughout the Commonwealth, and not just in wealthy countries.

This fund was set up last June, fifty years after Commonwealth education ministers met at their first conference back in 1959 in Oxford, UK, and agreed to establish the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP), with the intention of promoting international study and professional development throughout the world.

They indicated that this Plan "should be based on a system of awards for men and women from all Commonwealth countries - people who are of high intellectual promise and who may also be expected to make a significant contribution to life in their own countries on their return from study overseas."

Over half a century later - with more than 27,000 Commonwealth citizens having held the awards - Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma claimed the CSFP has grown to be "one of the most immediately recognised and respected of Commonwealth brands", along with the Commonwealth Games and Queen Elizabeth II as Head of the Commonwealth.

Mr Sharma was speaking at an event marking the 50th anniversary endowment fund, which was attended by HRH the Prince of Wales, who - in his capacity as patron of the Fund - met both Scholars and supporters alike.

Major donors to this endowment fund to date are the Governments of Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Kenya and Maldives as well as the Association of Commonwealth Universities, British-Nigeria Educational Trust and Puri Foundation.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General said that this new fund is an investment "in the exchange and power of Commonwealth networks; knowledge and understanding; the unquantifiable but unbreakable bonds of the Commonwealth; and the future."

One of the Commonwealth Scholars present at the event, held at the Commonwealth's headquarters in London, was Professor I M Dharmadasa, Head of the Electronic Materials and Sensors Group at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK.

He said that the award gave him "a wonderful opportunity to develop his career and contribute back to the society".

He was a Commonwealth Scholar between 1977 and 1980 at Durham University, where he was awarded a PhD in Solid-State Electronics. Professor Dharmadasa explained that he now uses the skills he developed during his time as a Scholar to explore ways of using clean technologies to promote social development and reduce poverty.

At the endowment fund event those present - which included both the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities - heard from two Commonwealth Scholars who explained what drew them to the CSFP.

Emma Broadbent, from the UK, who studied Religious Studies at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana between 2005 and 2007 and is now a development consultant, praised the Plan for "putting tertiary education back on the map".

Clement Appah, a current Commonwealth Scholar from Ghana, who started his PhD in Linguistics at Lancaster University in 2008, said that the fund was integral for "encouraging the next generation of professors", who will go on to have a significant impact on the lives of many students.

Key Links:

• Education
• Find out more about Kamalesh Sharma

Related News:

• Association of Commonwealth Universities
• Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan