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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT Twelve Ugandan students have been awarded scholarships to pursue Master’s degrees at different European Universities. Uganda Radio Network-URN learned that the EU is to spend an average of 60,000 Euros (220.4 million Shillings) annually on each student.
While speaking at the send-off event for the students at his residence in Kololo, the EU Head of Delegation to Uganda, Ambassador Attilio Pacifici said that the students had been awarded scholarships to pursue joint Master Degrees in European Universities under the European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students-Erasmus+.
The program is an annual scholarship supported by the European Union-EU Member States. It is an all-inclusive EU funded program that organizes student exchanges to enable them to gain international experience, promote the sustainable development of EU partners in the field of higher education, and contribute to the Europe 2020 strategy for growth, jobs, social equity, and inclusion.
Since 2004, the program has enabled a total of 139 Ugandans to pursue higher education in Europe.
Ambassador Pacifici explained that under the program, the 12 selected students this year will study in at least two different universities, located in different European countries. The European countries to host the students this year are Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
The Ambassador said that under normal circumstances, all the selected 12 students would have left for Europe already but due to the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions, some of them have begun courses online as they wait for the opportunity to travel when borders are open.
He appealed to the awardees of the scholarships to be ambassadors for Uganda in Europe and that after the education program, to make a difference for Uganda in her development agenda by innovating, solving problems, fighting corruption, and to generally contribute to Uganda’s development.
Those awarded scholarships are Teddy Nambaziira, Teddy Nakandi, Kenneth Nkumire, Leonard Kalule, Stephen Ediru and Joventine Mulumba, all former students of Makerere University. The others are Agnes Nyamiel from Busitema University, Tomasi Tusingwire and Felix Mugizi both from Kyambogo University, Geoffrey Ruhangariyo from Uganda Christian University, Ronald Ochan and Winnie Nalubowa from Gulu University.
Among the courses to pursue is a European Master in Social Work with Families and Children, European Master in Animal Breeding and Genetics, Public Health in Disasters, Masters in Precision Medicine, International Master in Rural Development and others.
The Ambassador of Germany Mathias Schauer said that the scholarships are life-changing.
Meanwhile, Pacifici also noted several other scholarships to study in Europe citing the Erasmus-Mundus Joint Master Degrees program under which Makerere University will benefit from a partnership with France’s Université Clermont Auvergne in offering a course in International Master in Dance Knowledge, Practice and Heritage.
“This scholarship opportunity will benefit many students through Makerere University since the programme will select students in four cohorts from 2021 till 2024. Under another Erasmus + window, the Capacity Building for Higher Education, five Ugandan Universities and one regional research forum will benefit from 36 months of higher education partnership projects,” he added.
The entities selected for this particular program are Gulu University, The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), Uganda Martyrs University Nkozi, Makerere University, Muni University, and Busitema University.
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