(KPL) Twelve Lao nationals were awarded scholarships for Master of Science (MS) studies by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).
They are among 40 Southeast Asians that qualified for the graduate study grants administered by SEARCA, which is hosted by the Philippine government on the campus of the University of the Philippines at Los Banos (UPLB).
Headed by Director Gil C. Saguiguit Jr., SEARCA is mandated to provide capacity-building interventions to address the agricultural and rural development needs of Southeast Asian countries.
Of the 12 new SEARCA scholars, 10 are supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada under the IDRC-funded Upland Agriculture and Food Security Fellowships jointly implemented by SEARCA and IDRC.
The fellowships project aims to establish a critical mass of high-quality human resources to serve as catalysts for developing sustainable agriculture programs for upland communities that are generally vulnerable to food insecurity. Five of the Lao scholars will study at UPLB, while the rest will enroll at Thai universities: two at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, one at Khon Kaen University in Khon Kaen, and four at Chiang Mai University in Chiangmai. They will all begin their studies in school year 2014/2015.
They will pursue MS programs in agriculture, agronomy, agricultural systems management, agricultural economics, irrigation engineering, animal science, tropical forestry, environmental science, and natural resource conservation.
Eight of them are faculty members of Savannakhet University (2), Northern Agriculture and Forestry College (4), Dongkhamxang Agriculture Technical School (1), and National University of Laos (1).
The others are government officers of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Planning and Investment, and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The 28 other new SEARCA scholars are from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.
So far, 63 Lao people received SEARCA scholarships for graduate studies, 36 of whom had completed their study programs. Of this number, 33 obtained MS degrees and 3 their PhD degrees.