§ 53. Mr. Maplesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken to increase the availability of scholarships to overseas students.
§ Mr. RaisonI announced last June a new shared scholarship scheme as part of the Government's targeted support for overseas students. The scholarships are for students of high academic ability from developing Commonwealth countries who are outside the scope of existing Government support schemes and who would not otherwise be able to study here. Costs will be shared jointly between ODA and the higher education institutions.
My initial target was 50 awards to commence next autumn. Owing to the excellent response to the scheme I have decided to double that to 100. The scheme will initially run for five years.