Last year, a number of applicants from Rwanda did not meet the English language requirement for Chevening in time, meaning a number of awards could not be taken up. As a result, British High Commission Kigali could not fill its allocation, despite identifying a number of bright and talented candidates during interviews.
This was incredibly disappointing, so I made it one of my key objectives to rectify the situation for the 2018/2019 academic year. I approached the British Council in Rwanda to propose joint awareness raising activities for both Chevening and IELTS. We invited all 52 Chevening interviewees to the high commission for an initial one-hour briefing session following the interviews in March 2018. A representative from the British Council, along with high commission staff outlined what to expect from an IELTS test, provided information about upcoming tests, and answered some key questions. The British Council then generously agreed to host the applicants for a full-day workshop in mid-April, allowing each component of the test to be explored in detail. The British Council subsequently agreed to hold an additional IELTS test date in May to ensure that all applicants have the opportunity to take the test, and have agreed to run similar events in the coming years. This year we are hoping to fill our allocation, and award scholarships to as many Rwandans as possible!
The Americas Directorate has recently been very busy hosting a series of roundtable discussions for various Latin American scholar groups. I have been lucky enough to attend a few of these, including one for Argentinian scholars, another for Central American and Cuban scholars, and another for a large group of Brazilian scholars. The discussions largely focused on […]
Two Chevening officer regional conferences have recently taken place around the globe: the first in South-East Asia and the second in Sub-Saharan Africa. These are the third and fourth regional conferences that have taken place since the initiative was first launched in 2015. Both conferences were organised and attended by members of the International team […]
Meet Programme Officer – International, Natalie. Before joining Chevening, Natalie lived in Hue, Vietnam, where she taught English as a foreign language after falling in love with South-East Asia during a five-month long trip. Name: Natalie Keen Countries: ASEAN (ODA) and East Africa From: Surrey, England Joined the team: June 2016 Previous Chevening experience: I joined […]