WASHINGTON, DC, USA (CMC) – Public servants from eight Caribbean Community countries are being given an opportunity to pursue higher studies in South Korea under a programme aimed at strengthening the public sector of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Washington-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said it has joined the Korea Poverty Reduction Fund in launching the scholarship programme at two educational institutions in Korea.

“The Korea-LAC Scholarship Programme (KLSP) seeks to help the region’s development by providing civil servants with the skills necessary to design, implement and evaluate successful public policies.

The KLSP will benefit 26 mid-level public officials from 22 eligible countries. Selected public officials will receive full academic scholarships to study a master’s programme in public policy or public management conducted in English at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management or Sungkyunkwan University,” the IDB said in a statement.

It said Caribbean countries eligible to participate in the programme are The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

The IDB said that there are several stages in the application process for the KLSP. In the initial stage, the Government of each eligible country will identify potential candidates and present a list of three shortlisted candidates.

Subsequently, the shortlisted candidates will apply directly to the host institutions. These institutions will then select the final 26 participants based on their respective admissions criteria. The final selection results are expected to be announced in July 2016,” the IDB added.