ARTICLE - FRANCE - SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS

SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS, THE COMMITMENT OF FRANCE WILL BE MAINTAINED
(Haiti Libre) -

The commitment of France to welcome 700 additional students and academic Haitians into the network of French universities of the West Indies and Guyana (with an engagement clause to return to Haiti at the end of training), will be realized at the end of the academic year 2011/2012. Nearly a hundred students have already returned to Haiti.

450 Haitian students and teachers were beneficiaries of French funding during the 2010-2011 academic year. Initially these bursaries have been supported mainly as credits of universities, but also of institutions, associations, or French organizations.

In a second step - exceptional credits (1 million euros in 2010 as an emergency l envelope devoted to Haiti), has enabled the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs to fund the four months of scholarship remaining in 2011 (March-June).

A new envelope of €2.5 million will help to fulfill the objectives during the 2011-2012 academic year (96 new scholarships and 128 recurring scholarships from the academic year 2011-2012).

Particular attention is being made on the issue of the return of the students. The different actors ....(university consortium Franco-Haitian...) have conducted a reflection with proposals on this issues:

Follow-up actions could be part of PARMSESH (Project Support to the Restructuring and Modernisation of the Higher Education System in Haiti): Haitian universities are committed to recruite research students, who have completed their education in France.

The Embassy of France in Port-au-Prince is also exploring the establishment of a "mechanism to assist the return" of university students by funding the first month's salary in anticipation of a relay by the Haitian Ministry of Higher Education.

It is also working with partners to develop a platform connected to the job world, offering to the scholarship students, and also to members of the diaspora, jobs and internships in companies in line with Haitian profiles which are in France. It will maintain close ties in this perspective with the Franco-Haitian Chamber of Commerce, and NGOs, in the research of international profiles.