The European Union ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Samuela Isopi, said at a conference in Abuja that over 200 Nigerians were awarded the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship.
This scholarship allows Nigerians to study in the fields of technology, robotics, agriculture, public health, and disaster management in ten European universities. The European Union ambassador said there are plans for more courses to be added that will target the specific needs of female students so as to have more women participating in the scholarship program.
Ever since the programme was introduced to Nigeria in 2014, 730 Nigerians have benefitted from it, making Nigeria the second nation to have most of its citizens utilise the scholarship. While the selection process is rigorous and competitive, a scholarship is not unattainable.
Nairametrics earlier reported on the scholarship, pointing out that it is open to everyone with a first degree, and even students that haven’t graduated yet but are about to.
What they are saying
- EU ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Samuela Isopi, said “The selection has been made on the pure basis of merit, and since Nigeria is the second country in the world now in terms of a number of awardees, this means really that the quality of the Nigerian students that have been candidates that have been selected is really very good.
- Esme Stuart, the Human Rights, Gender and Youth programme manager of the European Commission added that, “The selection process of the Erasmus students goes through annual application rounds. So, every year we’ll do the same just as we are promoting the number of awardees that we have, in October, we will start promoting the opening of the new application round for students that will be traveling to their countries next year.”
- Juan Reus, the head of the embassy of Spain in Abuja also talked about the fields of study that this year’s students have applied to.
- “We will be studying in more than 10 universities in Spain in different fields, especially in robotics and technology, agriculture, public health, natural disasters management, among others which just shows the diversity of interest that Nigerian students have.” Juan Reus said.
In 2019, just before the pandemic, only 44 Nigerian students got the scholarship. Compared to 2022, when over 200 students got the scholarship, making it a 450% uptick in applications and acceptance. This also took Nigeria from the ninth country with the most accepted candidates to the second.
About the Erasmus Programme
- The Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters are high-level and integrated study programmes, at the master level, that are designed and delivered by an international partnership of higher education institutions. (HEI).
- The aim of this scholarship by the EU is to foster excellence and internationalisation of participating institutions and countries.
- There are also scholarships for students to study at the master’s level. They are offered to the best-ranked applicants worldwide.
- The scholarships also cover the cost of a student’s participation in the programme, their travel, and a living allowance.
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