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Quality education critical to national goals, global competitiveness – FG

…as 2,000 Nigerians jostle for Commonwealth scholarship

 

As 2,000 persons struggle to get nominated for this year’s Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP), the Federal Government has said there is a need to improve the quality of education attained in the country, in order to meet national goals and global competitiveness.

Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, who made the disclosure at the opening ceremony of the 2022/2023 Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) nomination interview on Monday in Abuja, noted over 30,000 Nigerians have benefitted from the programme in the last 62 years.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Arc. Sonny Echono, he stated that only the most qualified Nigerians would be nominated to compete globally with candidates from other Commonwealth countries.

According to him, stressed applications and submissions would be graded based on academic merit, quality of study plan and likely development impact on completion of the study.

He said: “Improving access to quality education is, no doubt, critical to the attainment of our national goals and global competitiveness. It is expected, therefore, that you would not lose sight of the enormous developmental challenges facing Nigeria while rating the candidates.

“Since (CSFP) inception in 1959, more than 30,000 individuals have benefited from the awards and majority of the awardees from Nigeria have returned to make significant contributions to the development of the nation, particularly in our tertiary institutions. This, of course, is in line with the overall objective of the scheme which is to ensure that the returnee scholars make meaningful impact in their various disciplines.”

The Director/Secretary, Federal Scholarship Board, Mrs. Asta  Ndajiwo who disclosed that Masters and Ph.D. applicants would be graded based on academic merit, quality of research proposal and its positive impacts on society, noted that only Ph.D. applicants were interviewed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The award is highly competitive with a very limited number compared to the large number of applications received yearly and this year, almost 2000 applied through the Electronic Application System (EAS). The CSFP is highly prestigious as the award covers the awardee and spouse.

“The essence of the information is to alert the candidates to be disciplined and focused during the exercise. The FSB is noted for the presentation of scholars of excellence, which earned Nigeria more slots in the years past and the FSB intends to keep it up.”

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