Two More Versities Join The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program

• Partnership will provide 450 scholarships to promising young African leaders

Ethiopia's University of Gondar and Canada's Queen's University today announced a 10-year, USD$24.2 million partnership to advance inclusive higher education for young people with disabilities in Ethiopia and Africa as part of The MasterCard Foundation's Scholars Program.

The partnership will provide 450 next-generation African leaders with a high-quality university education at the University of Gondar, while also providing 60 of the university's faculty members with the opportunity to study at Queen's University, where they will enhance their skills in innovative pedagogy and in leading collaborative research between African and North American universities.

MasterCard Foundation Scholars 2016 (Credit: Jake Naughton for The MasterCard Foundation)

The University of Gondar and Queen's University will also collaborate to develop Ethiopia's first occupational therapy program.


"We are excited to welcome the University of Gondar and Queen's University to the Scholars Program," says Peter Materu, Director, Education and Learning and Youth Livelihoods, The MasterCard Foundation. "Through their collaboration, these exceptional institutions will not only forge a new path for inclusive education in Africa, but will also bring much-needed perspectives that will enable us to better understand the needs of talented young people living with disabilities. This partnership represents a new innovation in the Scholars Program that demonstrates how one can leverage the capacity of one partner to establish and strengthen programs in priority areas of need in another institution."

Queen's University will provide 44 University of Gondar faculty members with PhD training to develop skills and capabilities needed to supervise Scholars' research and practicums. Queen's University will also support the University of Gondar as it develops and implements the first undergraduate occupational therapy curriculum and program in Ethiopia.

"We are delighted to work on this tremendous, multi-faceted project with the University of Gondar and The MasterCard Foundation," says Dr. Daniel Woolf, Queen's Principal and Vice-Chancellor. "Without a doubt, this collaboration will change lives and create new pathways for education in Africa. It will also provide Queen's researchers and students new avenues for growth, as they join with University of Gondar faculty members on research projects and support Gondar faculty through training programs and the development of the first undergraduate occupational therapy program in Ethiopia."

Together, Scholars and faculty members at the University of Gondar and Queen's University will undertake joint research, paving the way for inclusive education that places the needs of young people living with disabilities at the heart of scholarship.