RECENTLY appointed French Ambassador to Jamaica Olivier Guyonvarch is urging Jamaicans to consider France in their quest for tertiary education outside of the island.

For decades Jamaicans have been heading to universities overseas with the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom being the destinations of choice. Cuba, Russia, China, Japan and many eastern European countries, including Ukraine, have also been selected by Jamaicans for their higher education studies.

But the French ambassador, in his first full media interview since taking up the post in Jamaica, has declared that his country can provide tertiary opportunities for Jamaicans in several subject areas at more affordable rates than some of the traditional destinations.

“Something that you should know, and students in Jamaica should know, is that in France you can get the same level of higher education, university, as you can get in the US and the UK for a lower price.

“Because in France, the tuition fees are minimal compared to what you have to pay in the UK or the US and I would like to see more Jamaican students, especially from the middle class, not necessarily wealthy people, going to study in France,” Guyonvarch told the Jamaica Observer in an exclusive interview.

According to the ambassador, France has several excellent engineering, science and technical universities which would be good for Jamaicans, despite the language difference.

“There are more than 1,000 courses which you can do in France in English. Of course, to master French language is better if you want to study history or literature…but if you want to study engineering, technical studies and so on these are among the list of courses that are thought in English. We are also very strong in financial studies,” declared Guyonvarch.

He noted that many Jamaicans are not aware of the opportunities to study in France and underscored that there could be opportunities for Jamaicans to access scholarships to universities in his country.

“So far we don’t have scholarships this year but I am working on that for next year for some full scholarships.”

According to Guyonvarch, “Since I came, one of my more important goals is to try to develop education relations between France and Jamaica”.

He said the French Government is already working in partnership with Shortwood Teachers’ College and every year 30 students from that institution go to France to teach English.

“They have good experiences in France and they get a salary in France and some of them would stay in France to pursue their studies, and this year we are going to offer small scholarships to them,” he said.

“Since I arrived in Jamaica [nine months ago] I have tried to develop this kind of relationship between French and Jamaican universities and we have a very good programme with UWI (The University of the West Indies) and the Institute for Political Studies in Bordeaux,” added Guyonvarch.

He told the Observer that a partnership between a French university and the University of Technology, Jamaica is also to be re-launched. Additionally, he recently visited Caribbean Maritime University and arranged a video conference with that institution and France and this relationship could develop with a teacher exchange.

“Because there is a need in France to learn better English and here in Jamaica there are some French lessons that we would like to share,” added Guyonvarch.