Horn of africa Aid Scholarships Project
HAA scholarships project is one of the most important projects implemented by the HAA during 2010. The project aims at providing higher education opportunities for gifted students who cannot afford to continue to university education due to financial and other hardships that the country is facing. Thus, this project is contributing the human capacity development for the country which is already suffering from widespread ignorance and illiteracy which is the result of two decades of civil war that has incapacitated Somalia for catching up its counterparts.
In the first part of 2010, HAA has identified a number of universities inside and outside Somalia, to which students could be sent to achieve their undergraduate and postgraduate studies. This was based on criteria set by HAA personnel in the field and other educational experts in Somalia. The local Universities that have been selected for this purpose were Simad Institute in Mogadishu, the University of Amud, Hargeisa University, Bur’o University and the University of Banadir. Universities in Sudan, Kenya, Malaysia and Uganda have also been selected. Among the disciplines that have been selected, and were seen as very important to rebuilding the country, were veterinary, agriculture, marine science, media and information, management and computer science. The necessary arrangements have been made for all students in terms of tuition, living and travel costs, especially for those travelling to Sudan, Kenya, Malaysia and Uganda.
In order to guarantee a transparency and justice in the process of student selection, a committee consisting of HAA staff, experts from other educational institutions and local elders was set up. To create the necessary competition, announcements of HAA scholarships programme have been made through the local educational institutions in all parts of the country. To make the final student selection examinations have been held on the 21st and 22nd August 2010, where 46 students from all over the country attended. 32 students have been selected and subsequently divided into two groups. 15 undergraduate students have been selected to study universities in Sudan, Kenya, Malaysia and Uganda, while the remaining 17 students were sent to the local educational establishments such as Simad, Hargeisa University, Bur’o University, Amud University and the University of Banadir. Another 5 postgraduate students have also been selected and sent to universities in Sudan, Uganda and Malaysia.
Finally it has been recommended that additional disciplines such as education and medicine should be included in the future HAA scholarships programme. It has also been proposed that number of scholarships in the local universities should be increased as it is very much cheaper than that of the foreign universities. Another proposal that needed to be considered was the inclusion and support of students locked up in the first and second year of local universities who have not been able to continue their education for financial hardships.
Short URL: http://haaonline.org.uk/?p=16
Posted by admin
on Mar 19 2011. Filed under Higher Education.
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