European Commission grants 26 Filipinos scholarships

MANILA, Philippines—Twenty-six Filipino students were awarded by the European Commission graduate school scholarships under the Erasmus Mundus Programme.

This month, MA and Ph.D. scholars will fly to various European Union (EU) member states for the scholarship.

Charges d’ Affaires ad interim Lubomir Frebort of the EU Delegation to the Philippines urged the scholars to become ambassadors of goodwill, strengthening the friendships and partnership between European member countries and Philippines.

Frebort said that since 2004, the EU has spent P228 million to provide opportunites for outstanding students and lecturers to study in Europe.

The scholarship includes air travel to Europe, tuition fees and a monthly living allowance for the students starting at P55,000 up to P138.000, he said in a statement.

Among the partner schools are Ateneo de Manila University, the University of the Philippines and the Visayas State University.

A send-off reception, which was graced by Erasmus Mundus alumni to share their Europe scholarship experiences, was hosted by the commission last August 28.

During the reception, Frebort also announced the conduct of the third European Higher Education Fair on October 15  in Makati City.

Acording to the EU delegation officer, the education fair would enable Filipinos to access more information about education programs from European higher education institutions coming to Manila.

In the statement released by the EU public affairs office, the Erasmus Mundus Programme was among the leading academic mobility programs worldwide.

It is a cooperation and mobility program in the field of higher education that aims to encourage students from outside Europe to take advanced degrees in the EU, which promotes dialogue and understanding among the youth around the world and strengthening the global links of European higher education, said the statement.