HIV positive? no scholarship

HIV positive graduates will be excluded from post-graduate scholarships tenable in the US that the Ministry of Education, Skills and Development (MoESD) will be offering next year. "It has to be understood that it is not the institutions there that require an HIV test. It is required for issuance of a visa," said the ministry's principal public relations officer, Oarabile Phefo. He added that some countries, like Canada, do not give visas to people with communicable diseases like HIV and Tuberculosis.

The scholarships are restricted to masters programmes and are available to graduates who are unemployed and registered with the National Internship Programme. Graduates should be either on internship or awaiting placement. Those who are employed or have resigned from their jobs are excluded. Available programmes are in the fields of business, medicine and mining. Only Botswana citizens are eligible for the scholarships.