Chevening Scholarships 2016/17 award winners announced

The British High Commission announced the name of six Mauritian professionals who have been chosen for the 2016/17 Chevening Scholarships last week. 

The scholarship is awarded to talented professionals who demonstrate the potential to become future leaders across a wide range of fields. It is fully funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and covers one year of post-graduate studies in a British university. The scholars will start their courses in the UK this September. The awardees are: Romanja Bhookul, Kaushik Goburdhun, Avinash Jasgray, Antish Maroam, Oumadevi Rangasamy, Sailendra Seewoogalam.

Romanja Bhookul: “An LLM will help me to achieve my full potential”

Recently, joined the Legal and Compliance Department at Juristax Ltd Romanja will study an LLM in Corporate Law at Durham University, UK. On receiving her award, she said: “Chevening is a life-changing opportunity. I feel extremely honoured to have received such a prestigious award. An LLM will help me to achieve my full potential and provide me with the required expertise to address issues pertaining to financial regulation and maintaining the integrity of the financial system in Mauritius. I also look forward to build long-lasting and positive relationships with bright minds from around the world. Being a scholar for a year and a Chevener for life is such an immense privilege.”

Kaushik Goburdhun: “I am deeply honoured”

Chief Legal Adviser of the Independent Commission Against Corruption for the past 10 years, Kaushik will study and LLM in Banking and Finance at Queen Mary University, London. “I am deeply honoured to have been selected by the British High Commission as a successful applicant for the Chevening Scholarship. Studying compliance, with respect to complex cross-border financial transactions, as part of the LLM Banking and Finance, in the heart of the world’s leading financial centre, will undoubtedly contribute to opening multiple avenues for career growth,” he averred. 

Avinash Jasgray: “I want to learn how to better design”

Avinash will study Project Planning and Management at the University of Bradford. He has worked for the National Empowerment Foundation for five years and one year for the National Women Council. He has also worked for six months for RUDO (Rural Unity Development Organisation) in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. He is very active in youth-led organisations like the Rotaract Club of Mahebourg and Plaine Magnien Youngsters Academy. “All my life I have been working towards this. Since 2009 I have been working on community empowerment projects in Zimbabwe and here in the Grand Port district. While I am studying abroad, I want to learn how to better design, manage and fund the projects I am so passionate about. I have a dream to bridge the divides between vulnerable communities here in Mauritius. I am sure that through my studies I will find a way to support such communities when I return.”

Antish Maroam: “This is a fantastic opportunity”

 Antish will study an LLM Tax Law at Queen Mary University, London. Antish has been working at PwC Mauritius as a Tax Consultant since 2014. In 2015, he was awarded a secondment at the World Bank in Washington D.C. for six months where he worked on the Paying Taxes indicator. Antish holds an LLB and is a member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA). “This is a fantastic opportunity. Taxation is a defining element of our economy and is ever changing. Mauritius will be required to adapt to these changes and will need to be guided by appropriate tax strategies. The Chevening Scholarship provides me the opportunity to gain more knowledge in the field and help my country in the future,” he said. 

Oumadevi Rangasamy: “A new journey is about to begin”

Oumadevi will study for an MSc in Applied Biopharmaceutical Biotechnology and Entrepreneurship at the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham, UK. She has previously studied Chemistry and Pharmacognosy. In the past years she had worked actively on various research projects at the University of Mauritius and later on at CIDP Research and Innovation, a private research laboratory. As part of the professional scientific pool of Mauritius she had been on the National Biotechnology Committee assigned to draft the first road map for a National Biotechnology Cluster in Mauritius. “Receiving the Chevening Scholarship is in many ways an acknowledgement that I am right to believe that I can make a difference for my country and myself. Biopharmaceutical Biotechnology has far reaching prospect in Mauritius and I am convinced that the British savoir faire would greatly contribute skills and knowledge that would spur innovation and development in that sector locally. Now, I stand poised behind the starting block more than ready to bolt at the sound of the gunshot. A new journey is about to begin!”

Sailendra Seewoogalam: “It is a defining edge for me”

Sailendra will study an MSc in Geoinformatics for Building Information Modelling at the School of Geomatic Engineering, University College London. He has been working as Senior Surveyor in different departments at the Ministry of Housing and Lands since 2012. On receiving his award he said: “Chevening scholarship is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It is a defining edge for me. Land is the basis of all development, be it from an economic, social or environmental perspective and it is very scarce for a small island country like Mauritius which is only 2040 km². Its judicious use is therefore imperative for Sustainable Development. Geoinformatics with Building Information Modelling is the latest technology being adopted in developed countries for effective and efficient management land and development of Smart Cities. As such, the world class British experience on Geoinformatics will be a valuable asset for my island country.”