NEWS RELEASES
CANADA ANNOUNCES INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO COMMONWEALTH SCHOLARSHIPS
November 6, 1997 No. 181
CANADA ANNOUNCES INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO
COMMONWEALTH SCHOLARSHIPS
Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy today announced the establishment of a
$1.75 million fund for Canadian scholarships to students from the Caribbean. This
pilot program will be administered over a five-year period by the Vancouver-based
Commonwealth of Learning, which is the only Commonwealth intergovernmental
organization located outside the United Kingdom.
Students awarded these scholarships will be studying "at a distance" using
specifically designed materials and taking advantage of modern communications
technologies. This program is an expansion of the current Commonwealth Scholarship
and Fellowship Plan, which has until now sent students from developing countries
to live in Canada to earn their degrees.
"This program provides the Commonwealth of Learning an innovative vehicle to
promote technology-based distance education, which Canada excels in," said Mr.
Axworthy. "Those students who are not able to leave their home countries, will
still be given the chance to study and earn their degrees at Canadian
universities."
These awards will be offered in 1998. Scholarships will be available in the fields
of teacher education, information technology and hospitality management.
Funding for this initiative was provided for in the February 1997 federal budget
and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework.
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For further information, media representatives may contact:
Debora Brown
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
This document is also available on the Department's Internet site:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca
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