Czechs increase scholarships for Zambian students

…..scholarship slots jump from 4 to 15 per year

Prague, November 14, 2018

The Czech Republic has increased Zambian scholarship slots from 4 to 15 per year. The scholarships cover medicine, agriculture, mining, veterinary medicine and Information Technology, IT.

Director of the department for African countries Mrs. Nicol Adamcova said in Prague Wednesday the increase was a reflection of the importance the Czech Republic attaches to its relations with Zambia.

“You know that Zambia is one of the only six countries on the African continent that we have diplomatic relations with”, Mrs. Adamcova said. She made the disclosure in her office when Zambia’s ambassador to Germany His Excellency Anthony Mukwita paid a courtesy call on her ahead of his presentation of credentials to President Milos Zeman.

In response, Ambassador Mukwita expressed gratitude to the Czech Republic for their gesture in helping to build the Zambian human capital.

“We are extremely grateful for this gesture as the areas of study you have chosen are all relevant to the economic priorities of the government of President Edgar Lungu”, Ambassador Mukwita said.

The Zambian envoy who, upon presentation of credentials will become an ambassador to the Czech Republic on a non-residential basis, said under President Lungu the development of human capital is paramount.

Since the Patriotic Front government assumed power in 2011, there has been a rapid expansion of technical, vocational and university schools countrywide. In just about every one of the country’s ten provinces there is either a university, a college or a technical and vocational training school.

The policy of the government of President Lungu is to empower especially the young population with education so that they may interact effectively with the real world and the challenges it presents.

At the World Bank/IMF board meetings that took place in Bali, Indonesia recently, a meeting attended by the Zambian Minister of Finance Mrs. Margarete Mwanakatwe, delegates urged governments globally to re-align their development priorities by investing in people.

Delegates reasoned that countries that have prioritized investment in people have done reasonably well in their development activities.