Over the years, the amount of Nigerian students with the passion of studying abroad is on the increase.
In a bid to make the dreams of thousand of Nigerians come true, the federal government devised a scheme to enable Nigerians to study abroad, the name of this scheme is the BEA award which is an acronym for Bilateral Education Agreement Award.
Fortunately, the BEA doesn’t only award students who want to study abroad but also students in the Nigerian tertiary institution. In 2020, the Nigerian government budgeted the sum of N73,169,907 for 3,7000 students in Nigerian polytechnics and universities while 13,000,000 was budgeted for 272 students who are studying in countries with bilateral agreement with Nigeria.
My friends are beneficiary of the two bilateral education award so I am going to write this article to the best of my knowledge.
About The BEA Award
The BEA Award is awarded to students who show a great academic performance in the Nigerian institution and also to students who show that they have what it takes to make the country proud outside its shores.
There are certain requirements that needs to be met to show you deserve this award and I’m going to list them out subsequently.
BEA Awards Scholarship Worth
The Nigeria federal government takes the responsibility to sponsor 272 students every year to countries that have the bilateral education agreement with Nigeria this includes the tuition fee and also for their upkeep throughout their programme.
Host Nationality
The countries that have the bilateral education agreement with Nigeria are Morocco, Cyprus, Turkey, Hungary, Egypt, Japan, Macedonia, Seribia, Algeria, Romania and Cuba for undergraduate students while the countries that have the bilateral agreement with Nigeria for postgraduate students are China, Hungary, Seribia, South Korea, Mexico, Japan and Turkey.
The Nigerian government also award students in Nigerian institutions who qualify for the scholarship with N100,000 each.
Eligibility And Requirements To Apply For The Bilateral Education Agreement Award
There are requirements that students must meet to be able to benefit from the BEA Award, the undergraduate and postgraduate have different requirements hence I’m going to list them out individually.
For Undergraduates
- All undergraduate aspirants must have a minimum of five distinction (A & Bs) in the West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination in subject relevant to their courses; this includes a distinction in English and Mathematics.
- The WASSCE must be written within two years of the stipulated time for them to get awarded.
- Only candidates within the age of 18 to 20 years are eligible for the scholarship award.
For Postgraduates
- All postgraduate students who intend to apply for the bilateral education agreement award must graduate with a first class or second class upper division in their first degree in an accredited university inside or outside Nigeria.
- The applicant must have worked for two years in Nigeria using his or her degree certificate, experience gotten from NYSC can be put into consideration.
- All applicants must have completed the NYSC programme which is mandatory for every Nigerian graduate unless exempted due to different situations.
The age limit for applying for a postgraduate programme under the BEA Award is 35 years and 40 years for PhD.
If you are working class, you’ll have to show a letter of readiness to be released by the organization you work with.
Further Requirements
- All the countries that have the bilateral education agreement with Nigeria are non-English speaking countries hence you have to undergo a compulsory one year foreign language programme to enable you partake in the lectures and activities of the school.
- Students who apply for a university in Japan must have a very sound knowledge of further mathematics.
- Hungarian university applicants can apply for two different courses in which they’d like to study in order of their preference.
- Hungarian university applicants must apply using this website; www.stipendiumhungaricum.hu. There is an application form in the website, fill in your correct details, print out the completed form and bring it along to the venue of your interview.
Eligibility For Students In Nigerian Schools
- The eligibility requirements for students studying in Nigerian universities is that they must have a CGPA of 3.5 or its equivalent.
- The eligibility requirements for students in polytechnic is that they must have an upper credit CGPA.
Field Of Study For BEA Applicants
The BEA Award set out specific courses that can be applied by the BEA aspirants below are some of the courses for undergraduate students are;
- Mathematics
- Geology
- Environmental science
- Engineering
- Geology
- Law
Course under the faculty of sciences.
- Biotechnology
- Architecture
- Medicine
- Agriculture
Postgraduate and PhD applicants can apply for any courses they studied in their first degree.
Eligible Nationalities For The BEA Award
This award is open to Nigerian citizens only, immigrants who lived in Nigeria for the past 15 years are also eligible to apply.
How To Apply for the Scholarship
- Candidates who wish to apply for this scholarship must print out a form in the federal scholarship board official website, the form should be filled and then submitted to any accredited JAMB CBT center.
- Attach to the form two photocopies testimonials from all the schools you previously attended with the originals for the sake of verification.
- Also come with your WAEC certificate, note that the originals should also be with you for verification.
- Two photocopies of your birth certificate from the national population commission should also be attached to your application form.
- Photocopies of your state of origin/local government certificate should also be submitted. Note that it should be signed and stamped by relevant bodies/people in your local government area.
Postgraduate applicants are required to submit Academic transcripts and
NYSC discharge or Exemption certificates.
Additional Information
After submitting your application form, you’ll be notified if you meet the requirements.
After the notification, you are required to arrive at the venue of the interview on the scheduled date or a day before the scheduled date. It is advisable to come five to six hours before time.
You are also required to submit the following documents at the venue of the interview;
- Copies of academic certificates and testimonials; i.e your first school leaving (primary school) certificate, WAEC certificate and testimonials from your school.
- A copy of the data page of your passport.
- Medical reports from hospitals. Note that their are accredited hospitals; results from national hospitals can be submitted.
After arriving the venue, an interview would be set by the federal scholarship board where you are going to be asked some academic and personal questions.
You’ll also be interviewed by a staff of your chosen institution, this interview is taken online. The questions are basic academic questions, this is to access if you are fit to be admitted in their school.
After given admission, you’ll be given a date for interview in the embassy of your preferred country.
Conclusion
This is all you need to know about the BEA Award, you can drop a comment if you need more clarification, I’ll take my time to give you an answer to your question.
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