Latest news with #RhodesScholarships
The Hindu
19 hours ago
- Business
- The Hindu
More Rhodes scholarships to Oxford University for Indians from 2028
The Rhodes Scholarship Trust, which offers the prestigious scholarship for studying at the University of Oxford, is aiming to increase the number of scholarships for Indians from 2028, to align with the country's population strength, Richard Trainor, the trust's CEO, said. Mr. Trainor, who was in India ahead of the announcement of applications for the 2026 academic session, told PTI in an interview that six scholarships are presently offered to Indian candidates annually. "The priority now is to try to get some additional scholarships for places where the number of scholars per head of population could be higher, and India is one of those places. So, we have six scholarships a year for India, which is good, but there are a billion and a half people in this country, as you know, so there should be more scholarships," Mr. Trainor, who is also the interim warden of the Rhodes House, said. "We are trying to raise money for additional scholarships, because the trust needs to have that money in the endowment in order to pay the fees to the University of Oxford, and to pay the living expenses of the scholars," he said. The other regions on the trust's radar for increasing the number of scholarships are China, and Africa. At present, four scholarships are offered to candidates from China, and 21 scholarships are offered to candidates from Africa. "We would like to have some additional scholars in each of these three areas by the time of the 125th anniversary of the scholarship scheme, which is 2028. We are going to have a big push on fundraising between now and the 125th anniversary," Mr. Trainor said. Mr. Trainor, who himself was a Rhodes Scholar in 1970, says people often talk about the Rhodes Scholarship transforming their lives. '...it also transformed mine. I had barely been out of the United States at the time that I took up the scholarship and, you know, it broadened my view of the world and led to my becoming a historian of another country, and then making my career in another country, and so on,' he said. "So, and then having this series of academic leadership jobs which have been very international in scope. Scholarships was totally beyond my background and aspirations at that stage," he said. The Rhodes Scholarship is given to outstanding students to undertake two to three years of study, depending on the academic curriculum taken, at the University of Oxford. Students aged 18–23 years (up to 27 years in particular circumstances) are eligible to apply. The Rhodes Scholarship is among the world's pre-eminent and oldest graduate fellowships, based at the University of Oxford since 1903. Administered by the Rhodes Trust in Oxford, the programme awards 106 fully funded scholarships to students from anywhere in the world with proven academic excellence who also show exceptional character, leadership, achievement in extracurricular activities and a commitment to solving humanity's challenges. The applications for the 2026 session began on June 3 and are open till July 23. Noted Rhodes scholars from India include the late Olympian Ranjit Bhatia, the late playwright Girish Karnad, economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia, researcher and historian Mahesh Rangarajan, environmental law expert Lavanya Rajamani, among others.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Rhodes scholarship for studying at University of Oxford to be available to more Indians from 2028
New Delhi, The Rhodes Scholarship Trust, which offers the prestigious scholarship for studying at University of Oxford, is aiming to increase number of scholarships for Indians from 2028 to align with the country's population strength, according to Sir Richard Trainor, the trust's CEO. Trainor, who was in India ahead of the announcement of applications for 2026 academic session, told PTI in an interview that presently six scholarships are offered to Indian candidates annually. "The priority now is to try to get some additional scholarships for places where the number of scholars per head of population could be higher and India is one of those places. So, we have six scholarships a year for India, which is good, but there are a billion and a half people in this country, as you know, so there should be more scholarships," Trainor, who is also the interim warden of the Rhodes House, said. "We are trying to raise money for additional scholarships, because the trust needs to have that money in the endowment in order to pay the fees to the University of Oxford and to pay the living expenses of the scholars," he said. The other countries on radar for increasing the number of scholarships are China and Africa. At present four scholarships are offered to candidates from China and 21 from Africa. "We would like to have some additional scholars in each of these three areas by the time of the 125th anniversary of the scholarship scheme, which is 2028. We are going to have a big push on fund raising between now and the 125th anniversary," he said. Trainor, who himself was a Rhodes Scholar back in 1970, says people often talk about the Rhodes Scholarship transforming their lives. "...it also transformed mine. I had barely been out of the United States at the time that I took up the scholarship and, you know, it broadened my view of the world and led to my becoming a historian of another country and then making my career in another country and so on. "So, and then having this series of academic leadership jobs which have been very international in scope. Scholarships was totally beyond my background and aspirations at that stage," he said. The Rhodes Scholarship is given to outstanding students to undertake two to three years of study, depending on the academic curriculum taken, at the University of Oxford. Students aged 18–23 are eligible to apply. The Rhodes Scholarship is among the world's pre-eminent and oldest graduate fellowships, based at the University of Oxford since 1903. Administered by the Rhodes Trust in Oxford, the programme awards 106 fully funded scholarships to students from anywhere in the world with proven academic excellence who also show exceptional character, leadership, achievement in extra-curricular activities and a commitment to solving humanity's challenges. The applications for the 2026 session began on June 3 and are open till July 23. Noted Rhodes Scholar from India include economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia, writer Girish Karnard, environmental law expert Lavanya Rajamani, political commentator and psephologist Mahesh Rangarajan and Olympian Ranjit Bhatia among others.
CBC
02-04-2025
- General
- CBC
Winnipeg's Wolseley School to be renamed within the year, ending connection to colonial general
Five years after a petition circulated calling for the renaming of Wolseley School in Winnipeg, the province's largest school division is taking new name suggestions from the public. The aim is to have the new name in place within the year, possibly before summer, says Matt Henderson, chief superintendent and CEO of the Winnipeg School Division (WSD). "I have four board meetings left [before the school year is over] and so hopefully we'll be able to get that done, but we don't want to rush the process," he told CBC Manitoba Information Radio host Marcy Markusa. "My initial thought is sort of spring, but if the stars don't align we can push that to fall. If we have to kick it into next year, we can do that, too." Built on Clifton Street in 1921, the school — and the entire neighbourhood in which is exists — was named after Col. Garnet J. Wolseley, a British general who led colonial campaigns in the 19th century, including commanding the 1870 Red River Expedition to suppress Louis Riel and the Métis resistance in what was to become Manitoba. The WSD launched a public survey last week, outlining the guidelines and criteria for the renaming process, and invited the public to submit their ideas. The cut-off date is April 7. "We've had over 155 submissions so far, which is exciting," Henderson said. The renaming committee will cut down the list to three names, which will be presented at a community consultation for feedback. Those three will be narrowed to two and given to the WSD board of trustees for a final decision. "These decisions aren't made on the fly by the board or by anyone. There is a bit of a process within board policy," Henderson said, noting the process began a while back. The division has held community consultations, while teachers and students examined the school's name, the significance of Wolseley and other key figures at that time, and conducted a Métis learning series on the history of the area. Students were then asked to make reasoned ethical judgments, Henderson says: "We want people to think deeply about names and not take them for granted." A recent fundamental shift in WSD policy means schools can no longer be named after a person "for obvious reasons," Henderson said. "I know some schools in North America that are called Justice or that they're called Hope. Certainly, we see that there's a move to schools that are named in Anishinaabemowin." The WSD in 2022 renamed Cecil Rhodes School in the city's Weston area to Keewatin Prairie Community School. Keewatin means "the land of the northwest wind" in Cree and Ojibway. That was also prompted by a public petition. Rhodes, founder of the Rhodes Scholarships at Oxford, was a British businessman, imperialist and politician. He advocated vigorous settler colonialism and touted views that white Europeans were "the first race in the world." His policies paved the way for apartheid in South Africa. The petition came out during a global wave of anti-racism rallies, the same week the Wolseley petition began. The latter also called for the renaming of Wolseley Avenue in that neighbourhood and Lord Wolseley School on Henderson Highway in the city's East Kildonan area. The wave eventually subsided and the focus on Wolseley slipped off the public radar until a couple of years ago when the parent advisory council at Wolseley School revived it, putting forward a request to the WSD to start a formal review process. "That's really where it needs to come — from [the] community, to be able to say, 'hey, we're not really comfortable [with] the name of a particular school for these reasons. Let's engage in a conversation,'" Henderson said. "So that's what happened. There was lots of consultation over the last few years, and now we're kind of at a critical point where we're asking for suggestions."
