Asunción, Agencia IP.- With an emphasis on sustainability and efficiency to continue forming advanced human capital for Paraguay, and focusing efforts on the current and future needs of the country, BECAL initiates its third phase for implementation that will count with new components, opportunities and options with innovations, focused on the improvement of public service, management and the productivity of the country’s productive forces.
In this context, it is planned to increase the number of professionals with specializations, masters, and doctorates in fields of relevant knowledge for the country’s development in the public and private sectors.
In this new stage, BECAL will offer more opportunities for Paraguayans to pursue doctorates without leaving the country, but with the quality and academic excellence that characterize the program. Likewise, co-financing from the private sector is planned for the formation of its human capital.
The National Postgraduate Scholarship Program abroad, «Don Carlos Antonio López» (BECAL, by its acronym in Spanish), dependent on the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), was created in 2015 to contribute to the formation of advanced human capital for Paraguay mainly in the fields of science, technologies, and education.
During the last eight years, it gave scholarships to 2.970 Paraguayans from all points of the territory, explained the interim coordinator of BECAL, Alejandra Bogado Tervit, during the program La Tribuna, broadcast on TV Paraguay.
Bogado Tervit is a former BECAL scholar and is now in charge of coordinating the program. She could narrate her experience abroad and also be able to inform the details of how to postulate. In that sense, she pointed out that there are no age limits for the postulation, but a strong desire to thrive, put a lot of effort, discipline, dedication, and resilience, and one of the essential requirements is admission to one of the best universities in the world since there are rankings that the program considers.
During the past eight years of the program, it was given 1.468 scholarships for graduate studies abroad, 412 for Teacher Training outside the country, 479 for Language studies (English, French, German, and Portuguese) in the country, 339 for PhD abroad; 242 for Undergraduate International Mobility Degree; and 30 for Postdoctoral Studies in the best foreign academic centers.
63% of the scholarship recipients are women, and 37% are men. Of the total, 1,518 scholarship recipients returned to the country. In contrast, 634 scholarship holders are currently active, studying at the best universities in the world. The scholarships are financed by the Fund for Excellence in Education and Research (FEEI) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).