The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) is an international programme under which

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

governments offer scholarships and fellowships to citizens of other Commonwealth countries.

History

The plan was originally proposed by Canadian statesman

Sidney Earle Smith Sidney Earle Smith (9 March 1897 – 17 March 1959) was an academic and Canada's Secretary of State for External Affairs in the government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. Early life and education Born and raised on Nova Scotia's Por ...

in a speech in Montreal on 1 September 1958 and was established in 1959, at the first Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) held in Oxford, Great Britain. Since then, over 25,000 individuals have held awards, hosted by over twenty countries. The CSFP is one of the primary mechanisms of pan-Commonwealth exchange.

Organisation

There is no central body which manages the CSFP. Instead, participation is based on a series of bi-lateral arrangements between home and host countries. The participation of each country is organised by a national nominating agency, which is responsible for advertising awards applicable to their own country and making nominations to host countries. In the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, which is the biggest contributor to the Plan, this process is managed by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in Britain, a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...

, and funded by the

Department for International Development The Department for International Development (DFID) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid ...

. Since 2008, the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

no longer contributes financially to the plan and the number and type of scholarships available for students from more developed Commonwealth countries (Australia, The Bahamas, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Cyprus, Malta, New Zealand, and Singapore) to study in Britain has been reduce

Other countries, such as Australia, no longer offer scholarships as part of the CSFP. New reforms were developed to strategically align scholarships with mutual interests for business and innovation between Commonwealth nations. During the state visit of President

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to the UK in October 2014, Her Majesty

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

announced that the Royal Commonwealth Society of Singapore would be re-established to promote the Commonwealth and to provide new Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships in Innovation for Singaporeans. The first Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship for Innovation were presented in August 2017 t
Joshua Cheong
and Dr Khoo Hsien Hui by the Rt. Hon.

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Notable past Commonwealth Scholars and Fellows

Politics

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Judiciary

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* Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd,

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, 30th Chief Justice of Pakistan

Government

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* Michael Omolewa, Permanent Delegate and Ambassador to UNESCO, Nigeria * Carolyn McMaster, Canadian Deputy High Commissioner to New Zealand * Manumatavai Tupou-Roosen, Director General of the

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Academia

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, Karnataka * Gunapala Amarasinghe, professor of apediatrics, Institute of Indigenous Medicine,

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(1937-2020), professor of Bengali,

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in Riyadh * Ishbel Campbell, British chemist researcher and lecturer. Held one of the first Commonwealth fellowships awarded to a woman. * Robert M. Carter, Director of Australia's Secretariat for the Ocean Drilling Program *

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and President of the

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. * John Gallas, poet and educator * Professor Alan Robertson Gemmell Professor of Biology at Keele University (1950–1977) *

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, Professor of English, Royal Holloway, University of London * Charles Jago, President of the University of Northern British Columbia *

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* Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh, Professor of Art, Baroda University *

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Journalists

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, Editor-in-Chief, ''The Globe and Mail'', Canada *

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, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist *

Chandan Mitra Chandan Mitra (; 12 December 1954 – 1 September 2021) was an Indian journalist and politician who was the editor and managing director of '' The Pioneer'' newspaper in Delhi. He was also a two-term member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house ...

, Editor and managing director of ''The Pioneer'', New Delhi

Performing arts

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