Public invited to apply for Indian Study Programme

BRADES, Montserrat (July 1, 2013) – The courses being offered through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) are also open to residents who are not public servants, said outgoing High Commissioner to the Caribbean His Excellency Malay Mishrah.

Mishrah confirmed this at the farewell reception given by the Office of the Premier on Friday evening at Ponteen’s Place in Little Bay. He reaffirmed his government’s commitment to increase the number of available slots for scholarships from two to four and encouraged as many people as possible to apply for the courses.

Since presenting his credentials to the Government of Montserrat and later signing a Memorandum of Understanding in 2009, 12 residents have been on courses free of costs to India. The short term courses which are a minimum of six weeks include entrepreneurship, leather tanning, forensic science, ICT and legal drafting.

During the reception, former students including Kenbert Barzey and Roland Irish thanked the high commissioner for his support in enabling Montserrat to be included in the ITEC programme. Barzey and Irish also encouraged other island residents to research and apply for the courses as they were not only beneficial for learning about a subject but had immense cultural impact and helped to build relationships with people from all over the world.

Private sector applicants must contact the Learning & Development Division to have their application approved and forwarded as they are the authorised agency for Montserrat.

Annually, India sponsors 2500 students from 162 countries through the ITEC. His Excellency Mishrah said the annual budget for this program is three billion United States dollars. The participants as listed by ITEC/SCAAP (http://itec.mea.gov.in/) are not required to bear any training cost including boarding, lodging & travelling expenses and there is a provision of support for out of pocket expenses.