Application for the Federal Government Scholarship for Nigerian Undergraduate, Masters and PhD for Study Oversees has been likened to climbing a slippery mountain to some applicants due to demanded requirements. And I see this as a lack of necessary information about the scholarship awards. Now I want to clear this assertive statement by taking applicants through the easy and wider window of its application.
Federal Government Scholarship is controlling by Federal Scholarship Board which is saddled with responsibilities of running the affairs of Federal Government’s Scholarship schemes.
About Federal Scholarship Board
Federal Scholarship Board (FSB) is a Department of Federal Ministry of Education in charge of implementing, monitoring and supervising Federal Government policy and programmes on education. Apart from this, the Board is also compiling and managing foreign and local scholarship awards to Nigerians that deserve it. And of course, the Board is also monitoring and supervising activities of Federal Government’s scholarship in tertiary institutions both locally and abroad.
The Board oversees and operates under the following sub-arms:
1. Bilateral Education
Agreement
2. Commonwealth Scholarship & Fellowship Plan
3. General Scholarship Duties
Below are the scholarship schemes found under these sub-arms:
What is Bilateral Education Agreement?
Bilateral Education Agreement is a division of Federal Scholarship Board (FSB) which ensures educational cooperation through the scholarship awards between Federal Government and Foreign countries. It’s an entity that enables international education relationship between Federal Government and the foreign countries or organizations that have signed Bilateral Education Agreement(BEA) with Nigeria.
Countries with Bilateral Education Relationship with Nigeria
The following countries have bilateral education relationship with Nigeria
1. Algeria
2. China
3. Cuba
4. Egypt
5. Hungary
6. Japan
7. Mexico
8. Morocco
9. Romania
10. Russia
11. Serbia
12. South Korea
13. Tunisia
14. Turkey
15. Ukraine
Category of Scholarship Awards
The BEA scholarship awards are considered according to these academic mileage:
1. Bachelor Degrees
2. Masters Degree and;
3. PhD Studies.
BEA Scholarship Awards Eligibility and Requirements
Postgraduate/PhD Scholarship and Requirements:
- For PhD application, any applicant interested in this category must hold a Masters Degree
- For Masters application, any applicant must hold First Degree with First Class Honours or Scond Class (Upper) Division;
- Applicant should not be more than 35 years;
- Applicant’s certificates must not more than 5 years.
- Release Letter from employer.
- NYSC certificate/Exception Letter from previous Foreign Awards Recipients.
Undergraduate Scholarship and Requirements:
- Applicants must possess minimum of six As or Bs in West African Examination Council result including English and Mathematics at one sitting and other relevant subjects related to applicants’ courses of study.
- Certificates’ age should be limited to one year for African countries and two years for European countries.
- Applicants must be between the age range of 18 and 20 years old.
Considered Fields of Study
- Languages
- Social Sciences
- Law
- Geology
- Petroleum related courses
- Environmental science
- Medicine and other related courses
- International Relation
- Engineering
- Technology
- Natural Science among others.
Selection Process
Selection process of BEA scholarship awards is based on the following criteria:
i. Computer Based Test/ Examination
ii. Nomination Interview
Computer Based Test is conducted by Joint Admission Matriculation Board and the test is conducted in special designated centres across geopolitical zones including Federal Capital Territory (FCT). All applicants from thirty six states in Nigeria are covered in the test.
The Joint Admission Matriculation Board is given a mandate to process applicants’ results, grade and rank them based on merit from the highest to the lowest.
After the ranking of the results, Inter-Ministerial Committee is formed to compile and collect the data of applicants to decide the final selection based on the performance of the applicants.
Oral interviews will also be conducted by the Embassies of the countries that sponsor the scholarship awards to nominate applicants for final selection on behalf of Governments of Donor Countries.
Portal Registration
For the registration of BEA scholarship awards, the portal www.education.gov.ng is usually open for application by the end of December to early January and the portal is usually left for six weeks.
Remunerations for Scholarship Recipients
Postgraduates and undergraduates are awarded 6000 dollars per annum to supplement feeding, local transport, maintenance, education materials/course materials.
- 250 dollars for clothing allowance per year.
- 200 dollars for health insurance on annual basis.
- One time payment one million naira take off allowance for all postgraduate recipients before departing to the country of their scholarship institution.
- Sixty thousand naira take off allowance for all undergraduate recipients before leaving the country of their institution.
- One thousand dollars research allowance for all postgraduate recipients per year.
- Five hundred dollars allowance for the recipients going to study General Medicine.
- Issuance of one way ticket before departure from Nigeria
- 2500 dollars for returning ticket.
Commonwealth Scholarship
Apart from Bilateral Education Agreement, another Federal Government’s related scholarship is Commonwealth scholarship managing by Federal Scholarship Board. The Commonwealth scholarships are awarded to students of Commonwealth member states who are brilliant and talented persons who could not afford travelling abroad for schooling on personal financial capacity and who have what it takes to make positive change in the world and could contribute to the UK manpower development and sustainable development goals.
What’s Commonwealth scholarship? Commonwealth scholarship is meant for the students across the Commonwealth member states who could not afford to study in the UK. The purpose of scholarship is to help innovators and future leaders. It is organised to attract outstanding talent to the UK universities.
Application Eligibility
To book in for the Commonwealth scholarship, you are to meet the following criteria:
- You must be a citizen or permanent resident of Commonwealth member state.
- Applicants must be undergraduate degree holders at least Second Class (Upper) Division.
- For applicant intending to pursue PhD must have Masters degree.
- Applicants must not be able to afford study in the UK without scholarship.
Required Documents
- International Passport
- Academic Transcript
- University Certificates
- One or two references
- Admission Letter
Application Process
Application for scholarship scheme is to be strictly processed online. Therefore, the applicants are to login to the Commonwealth scholarships’ website to fill out their details.
Scholarship Financial Coverage
Most of Commonwealth scholarships are completely paid for by the UK. Furthermore, the scholarship covers the following:
- Tuition Fees
- Airfare ( to and fro)
- Living allowances.
To learn further about Commonwealth scholarships, you can check here https://cscuk.fcdo.gov.uk/about-us/scholarships/
