25 Sep 2017

British High Commission communications and political officer, Mr Boniface Badubi has told prospective Chevening scholarship applicants in Francistown that scholarship is open to all Batswana students who hold an undergraduate degree and meet the minimum requirements.

Mr Badubi said this at a Chevening application workshop held at Cresta Marang Hotel recently to enlighten prospective applicants on the application process and requirements recently.

Participants from as far as Maun attended the workshop.

Such workshops, he explained, were necessitated by overwhelming enquiries from many Batswana who wanted to apply for the Chevening scholarships.

“The interest shown by Batswana on the scholarship got to a point where we could no longer afford to attend to individual enquiries, hence we came up with the outreach workshops in different parts of the country to raise awareness and to get as many people interested as possible,” he said.

He added that they also wanted to share with interested applicants the benefits of acquiring a British education.

Consequently, Mr Badubi explained that over the years Chevening scholarships were awarded to individuals who lived outside Gaborone and thus everyone stood equal chance of getting the award as long as they met the requirements and performed well during the interviews.

Chevening award is the UK government’s global scholarship programme funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and partner organisations.

The scholarship is available in over 160 countries and supports a one-year master’s degree in any subject and at any UK university.

As such, he said their intention, resources permitting, was to see the number of those who were sponsored increasing.

“Chevening scholars are individuals who have ambition and leadership potential, a strong academic background, and possess strong interpersonal skills,” he highlighted.

Furthermore, he highlighted that in Botswana and globally, Chevening scholars tended to rise to prominent positions in their chosen fields.

Again, he said scholarships afforded those successful the opportunity to experience the best of British culture and was also geared at individuals who are influential and come back at the end and make an impact in their communities.

One of the benefits of being a Chevening scholar, he added, was that scholars got the opportunity to be invited to exclusive networking events, talks, trips across the UK and volunteering opportunities.

“Upon graduating you join over 48 000 other Chevening Alumni who together form an influential and highly regarded global network,” he said.

He also encouraged prospective applicants to find all the information on the application process in the Chevening website.

Consequently, he said Chevening was interested in individuals who are leaders and can influence others, and thus challenged applicants not to be modest about their achievements but rather be proud and demonstrate in the application forms where they had made an impact on the lives of other people.

Further, he informed them that it was their aim to spread the Chevening scholarship awareness workshops to other places such as Kasane and Maun in future to afford more people the opportunity to benefit.

One of the Chevening alumni members, Ms Eunice Ntobedzi encouraged prospective applicants to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the British High Commission.

Ms Ntobedzi also shared her experience as a Chevening scholar at the University of Glasgow where she immersed herself in both academics and the British culture.

Thus, she urged them to believe in themselves if they were to get the scholarship and added that once they know what they want to be in life, then the application process and the interview will be hassle free.

Meanwhile, Chevening awareness workshops were held in Gaborone, Palapye and Francistown this year. ENDS