Officially welcoming the 2016/2017 beneficiaries of the Chevening Scholarship back to Ghana, at a ceremony in Accra on Tuesday, the British High  Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Jon Benjamin, said the UK government was proud of the initiative which had benefited more than 1,500 Ghanaians and many more  people globally.

The High Commissioner said the Chevening  Scholarship Programme was an important element in Britain’s public diplomacy effort towards helping to send professionals who had already displayed outstanding leadership talents, to study in the UK.

“The Chevening Scholarship Programme provides a unique opportunity for future leaders, influential and decision makers from all over the world to develop professionally, academically and to network extensively to build lasting positive relationship with the UK,” he said.

He urged the beneficiaries to contribute to national development by putting to extensive use whatever they learnt during their one-year study in the UK

Chevening experience

Mr Benjamin said he  was optimistic that the Chevening experience would enrich the curriculum vitae of beneficiaries and boost their opportunities to get new jobs or promotion.

In his remark, the Deputy UK High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Gavin Cook, urged the fellows to be good ambassadors of the scheme and the UK.

Being good ambassadors, he said, would enhance the visibility of the programme and its benefits and encourage more people to access the scheme.

Sharing her experience with the Daily Graphic, one of the beneficiaries and a broadcast journalist at Multimedia Group, Adelaide Arthur, said her skills had been well enhanced, making her optimistic to contribute enormously to the advancement of her company.

Another beneficiary, who was a legal practitioner before her study in the UK, Delali  Agboada, said the scholarship experience helped her to secure a job as a lecturer of tax law at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

She, therefore, encouraged all professionals to take advantage of the scheme to enhance their careers.

For her part,  the President of the Chevening alumni Association, Madam Charity Binka, said members of the association gained job opportunities through networking, among other benefits of the association, and, therefore, encouraged the scholars to be part of the association to maximise their potential.

2016/2017 beneficiaries

The 22 beneficiaries were awarded the Chevening scholarships to pursue master’s degrees in various disciplines of interest in selected universities in the United Kingdom.

The areas pursued by the 2016/2017 fellows included MA in multimedia journalism, environmental and energy engineering, intelligence and international security, MSc in midwifery, MSc in renewable energy and MA in media and international development.

The scholarship covered tuition, departure and arrival allowance, warm clothing and other expenses of the beneficiaries for the 2016/2017 academic year.