NewsWhore
08-20-2009, 06:20 PM
These are golden years for university students in the DR. Never before had so many scholarships to study abroad been available to Dominican students. The Fernandez administration has allotted millions to subsidize scholarships that have been negotiated with leading universities in Europe and the Americas.
Some 1,201 student were given a farewell ceremony at the Presidential Palace yesterday where they were hosted by President Leonel Fernandez, Higher Education Minister Ligia Amada Melo and other officials. 700 returning graduates of the scholarship programs were also celebrated during the encounter.
The students will travel to 15 countries for undergraduate and graduate studies. President Fernandez said that his goal was to have half of all students in the DR continue on to university studies by 2018.
So far as part of the program begun in 2005, 4,910 students have received scholarships to study at graduate and post-graduate levels abroad.
President Fernandez told the departing students that in 1961 there were only 3,200 university students in the country, maybe 1% of the young people between the ages of 18 and 24. Today there are 350,000, which is equal to 30% of the same age group.
Speaking at the event, Fernandez said: "We can put aside other things. We can let go other commitments, due to the constraints of the economy. But what is sacred is our commitment so that 10,000 youths can study abroad on scholarships," said Fernandez.
"The future of this country, the future in terms of development, progress and modernity of the DR rests precisely on the accumulation of knowledge that the new generation of Dominicans can have," said Fernandez, as reported in El Caribe.
The new group will be studying at 88 universities in 15 countries. Of these 975 will travel to Spain, 120 to the US, 19 to France, and the rest to Cuba, Argentina, Sweden, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, South Korea South, Holland, England, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)
Some 1,201 student were given a farewell ceremony at the Presidential Palace yesterday where they were hosted by President Leonel Fernandez, Higher Education Minister Ligia Amada Melo and other officials. 700 returning graduates of the scholarship programs were also celebrated during the encounter.
The students will travel to 15 countries for undergraduate and graduate studies. President Fernandez said that his goal was to have half of all students in the DR continue on to university studies by 2018.
So far as part of the program begun in 2005, 4,910 students have received scholarships to study at graduate and post-graduate levels abroad.
President Fernandez told the departing students that in 1961 there were only 3,200 university students in the country, maybe 1% of the young people between the ages of 18 and 24. Today there are 350,000, which is equal to 30% of the same age group.
Speaking at the event, Fernandez said: "We can put aside other things. We can let go other commitments, due to the constraints of the economy. But what is sacred is our commitment so that 10,000 youths can study abroad on scholarships," said Fernandez.
"The future of this country, the future in terms of development, progress and modernity of the DR rests precisely on the accumulation of knowledge that the new generation of Dominicans can have," said Fernandez, as reported in El Caribe.
The new group will be studying at 88 universities in 15 countries. Of these 975 will travel to Spain, 120 to the US, 19 to France, and the rest to Cuba, Argentina, Sweden, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, South Korea South, Holland, England, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)