The University's Chancellor, Lemn Sissay, attended a special event in Addis Ababa in December to officially extend a transformational student scholarship to Ethiopia.
Talented candidates from Ethiopia will now be able to apply for places through the University’s Equity and Merit Scholarships, which currently fund students from Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania to take a postgraduate course that isn’t available in their home country.
Now into its eleventh year, Equity and Merit has helped more than 200 students who have a desire to learn skills that will transform their home countries, build their careers and implement projects which have benefitted thousands of local people.
Lemn launched the scholarships at the British Embassy in Addis Ababa in December alongside senior representatives from the Ministry of Education and local universities and Dr Alula Pankhurst from the University of Addis Ababa.
Dr Pankhurst is an alumnus of the University of Manchester, where he obtained his PhD in Social Anthropology. His links to Manchester don’t end there however, as he is also the grandson of Sylvia Pankhurst, the suffragette who was also a staunch champion of Ethiopia during World War II, and was born in the city in 1882.
The scholarships are jointly funded by the University and its donors. The University covers the tuition fee in full and the generosity of donors covers students’ living costs, flights to the UK and visas.
In the past the students have used their newly gained knowledge to fight diseases such as malaria, build low-cost housing for slum dwellers or bring electricity to remote communities. In many cases the scholarships have not just transformed the students’ lives but those of their people living in their home towns or cities.
Joanne Jacobs, from the University’s International Office, oversees the Equity and Merit Scholarships. She said: “Equity and Merit scholarships really do change lives. The students we’ve had over the last ten years have all been exceptional and have made a genuine contribution to the development of their countries.
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The Equity & Merit scholarship scheme is only made possible through donations. If you are interested in supporting Equity & Merit scholarships, please visit our donate page.