South African students pursuing a Master’s degree have been encouraged to apply to the Irish Kader Asmal Fellowship Programme by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).

The DHET operates the International Scholarships platform that will inform and encourage students to seek funding for studies and other opportunities abroad with this being the latest recommendation.

“The Embassy of Ireland in South Africa is offering a fully-funded scholarship opportunity to South African students to study at Master’s level in Ireland’s world-renowned Higher Education Institutions,” the description of the programme reads.

“The Kader Asmal Fellowship Programme is targeted at early career professionals in South Africa, with leadership potential. The scholarship broadly supports leadership for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which includes support for the development of women’s leadership capacity and women’s participation in STEM as key priorities.”

As mentioned applications are now open and will close on 3rd August 2022 leaving a few weeks of time to complete the process. Successful applicants will be studying in the 2023 / 2024 academic year.

Full details of how to apply can be found on the International Scholarships website here.

Many study and funding opportunities require students to have some proficiency in the language spoken in the home country of the programme. As English is a shared official language in both South Africa and Ireland this may seem like a nonissue, but under the list of required documents is one around languages.

“English language test (IELTS) certificate, if available. Only IELTS certificate dated September 2019 or later are acceptable,” the criteria reads.

For students applying who are already proficient in English we recommend reaching out to the organisers to see if this requirement can be waived as it seems redundant for many South Africans.