Chevening scholarship application deadline next week

• Scholar intake increases significantly

By Shehana Dain

The Chevening scholarships, funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and partner organisations, will be closing its applications for 2016-2017 on 3 November.

This year the number of scholars from Sri Lanka saw a significant increase, compared to one each in the past couple of years. The move came as a result subsequently when the UK Government announced its decision to triple the number of scholarships available globally, simultaneously increasing funds.

The British High Commission in Sri Lanka has been the supervisory body for the process for over three decades in the country. Scholars receive the opportunity to pursue a Masters at any UK University. The program names the scholars as outstanding emerging leaders.

A full Chevening Scholarship provides a complete financial package. Scholars are offered the payment of tuition fees that is a fee cap applied to MBA programs, a monthly stipend, travel costs to and from the UK, as well as a study travel allowance, a thesis allowance and an allowance for study materials, and the cost of one visa application in addition to travel funding to attend Chevening events in the UK.

The Daily FT team sat down with Chevening International Liaison Officer for South Asia Harish Lokhun, who was in Colombo recently, to discuss in depth about the Chevening program.

He was in the country to head the marketing campaign which is currently focused on executing direct marketing strategies via university workshops, to gain maximum coverage. The team covers all parts of the country and focuses on social media campaigns.

He added that it has benefited the country’s educational sector immensely because education is the key option for future leaders. “With the UK Government’s decision to triple the funds it has benefitted developing countries like Sri Lanka immensely. Since the origin of the program in 1983 Sri Lanka has been eligible for the program. We are hoping that the country will have an added advantage with student numbers increasing.”

In terms of eligibility according to Lokhun, the bar is raised quite high. “It’s a must have for the applicants to have a solid undergraduate degree that will enable them entry to a post-graduate program at a UK university with minimum two years’ work experience that includes internships, voluntary work, part-time or full-time employment. They also have to meet the Chevening English language requirement by the same date.”

An applicant is also required to list which university one would prefer to study and the preferable educational field. Subsequently the received applications are flown into London where an independent committee will make recommendations. The shortlisted candidates are then called for interviews.

Though applicants in Sri Lanka are recommended to choose any field of study, they are particularly motivated to undertake fields such as conflict prevention, development studies, financial regulation, human rights, law, good governance, economics and administration.

“There has not been any particular field that Sri Lankan scholars have continuously shown interest, it always varies. End of the day it all depends on what the applicant wants to study and where one wants to study. This year around though with more numbers there has been students who were more interested in the field of economics and finance and development studies,” he said.

When asked if such a program will result in a brain drain Lokhun stressed that one of the objectives of the Chevening scholarship is to get the scholars to come back to their own countries.

“What we see through such an initiative is a brain gain that takes place. We want individuals to bring back everything they learnt in UK and apply that in the fields of their future employment.”