South African students with an interest in Russia and its culture should act fast as they only have a few more hours to apply to an overseas scholarship today, 15th November 2021.

The Russian Government scholarships 2022/23 opened up earlier this year, but the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) put out a reminder to students and their parents earlier today.

“The Russian Government is offering scholarships to South Africans for full-time, on-campus undergraduate and postgraduate programmes tenable at public higher education institutions in Russia. Most programmes are instructed in the Russian language and applicants with no command of Russian are required to take the college preparatory courses for one year before pursuing major studies,” reads the description on the DHET website.

The language barrier does make this scholarship more difficult to partake in, but it does offer a unique opportunity both for those wanting to learn the language and for existing Russian speakers in South Africa.

This scholarship will allow for South African students to travel to Russia for their qualifications, but, rather importantly, it only covers the costs of tuition. Other expenses such as travel, accommodations, food and more are not included.

Aside from those criteria there are more important requirements for applying students which they need to take heed of:

• “South African citizens in good health (medical test will be required for successful applicants);
• Have a strong academic record;
• Bachelor’s applicants should have a minimum 70% average in their National Senior Certificate (excluding LO);
• Postgraduate applicants should have a minimum average of 65% in their previous studies;
• Demonstrated interest in Russia and commitment to the development of South Africa;
• Applications in all fields of study will be considered excluding medicine,
• Students must meet the minimum academic requirements for entry into a similar programme at a South African university.“

The full details about this scholarship and its finer details can be found on the DHET website here.

As with all bursaries, scholarships and other education opportunities students and their parents are encouraged to read and re-read the fine print to be aware of all the details and requirements, especially when it comes with the added complexity of studying overseas.

For those wondering about the header image above both Russian and South Africa are part of BRICS, a coalition of nations that also includes Brazil, India and China. The partnership between these countries results in opportunities like this scholarship existing.

[Image – slon.pics on Pixabay]