The University of Nairobi students from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) have benefited from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarships (QES) Program from Canada. This was revealed during a courtesy call to the Vice Chancellor by a delegation from Rideau Hall Foundation, Universities Canada and the University of the Frazer Valley all from Canada, on Thursday, May 6, 2023. The Rideau Hall Foundation and Universities Canada, an association of Canadian universities come together to form the Canadian QES program which offers fully paid scholarships to Masters and PhD students from Commonwealth countries.
The University of Nairobi signed a collaborative agreement with the University of the Frazer Valley to facilitate student mobility between the two countries. The first cohort of students to benefit from the QES program was from the University of Nairobi Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies who went to study at the University of the Frazer Valley and students from Frazer Valley come to the University of Nairobi. The main objective of the visit was to know the progress and Impact of the QES program on the University of Nairobi students and faculty. Also, to plan how to onboard other departments from the faculty to the program. During her remarks, the President of Rideau Hall Foundation, Teresa Marques, said there is a need to support global mobility. “The QES program will allow students in Canada to travel and experience other cultures while students from other countries come and experience Canada,” she said. “We are currently supporting 2500 students around the world,” she added. The Director of Partnerships and Programs at Universities Canada, Julia Scott, echoed that the association is a springboard to design programs that will help in student mobility. “We help design programs that will help Canadian students travel and foreign students to come,” she said. Universities Canada lauded the University of Nairobi for being good ambassadors for Kenya. “The University of Nairobi students have been very good ambassadors for Kenya,” she lauded.
In his remarks, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof, Julius Ogeng’o who was representing the Vice Chancellor, said that the university is grateful as there is need to make the university a global university. “We are happy because we want to make the university a global university and that is where we are going,” he said. He added that there is need to think of joint or dual degrees to maximize student mobility. “The university has a framework that supports joint or dual degrees,” he added. Also present were beneficiaries of the QES program represented by three students from the University of Nairobi and two from the University of the Frazer Valley.
