Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09PARAMARIBO92
2009-03-30 18:47:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Paramaribo
Cable title:  

SURINAME: STUDENTS QUIT VENEZUELAN AND CHINESE

Tags:  PREL PGOV CH VZ CU NS 
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VZCZCXRO4248
PP RUEHGR
DE RUEHPO #0092 0891847
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301847Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0648
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0170
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1687
UNCLAS PARAMARIBO 000092 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR JROSHOLT
WHA/PD FOR CHAD WEST

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV CH VZ CU NS
SUBJECT: SURINAME: STUDENTS QUIT VENEZUELAN AND CHINESE
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS, BUT CUBAN PROGRAMS STILL POPULAR

UNCLAS PARAMARIBO 000092

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR JROSHOLT
WHA/PD FOR CHAD WEST

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV CH VZ CU NS
SUBJECT: SURINAME: STUDENTS QUIT VENEZUELAN AND CHINESE
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS, BUT CUBAN PROGRAMS STILL POPULAR


1. (SBU) Summary. Recent Venezuelan and Chinese government
scholarship programs for Surinamese students have fallen
short of their targets. This academic year, eight of eleven
Surinamers with Venezuelan scholarships quit their programs,
while two of five Surinamers with Chinese scholarships quit
their programs. In contrast with the Venezuelans and the
Chinese, the Cuban government's scholarship program continues
to go strong with 60 participants, according to media
reports. End Summary.


2. (U) On March 16, De Ware Tijd (the newspaper of record)
broke the story that eight of eleven Surinamese students
studying medicine in Venezuela had quit their programs. The
media quoted Suriname's Ambassador to Venezuela, Samuel
Pawironadi, as stating that the Embassy of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela had directly advertised these
scholarships in the Surinamese press without coordination
with Suriname's Ministry of Education. The Surinamese
Embassy in Venezuela worked closely with the Venezuelan
government once the problems came to light in order to ensure
the remaining three students would have an enjoyable stay,
the media reported.


3. (SBU) In December 2008, Post's EducationUSA advisor
counseled two of the returning students. One student told
her the Venezuelan program was disorganized. Although the
advertisement said it was a medical school scholarship, when
the students arrived in Venezuela the medical school had not
yet been built. Instead, the students were sent to learn
Spanish in a village on the Venezuelan-Guyanese border. The
student reported that the room and board provided was
substandard, and that he became ill before returning to
Suriname. Later, the EducationUSA advisor learned this
student received a scholarship to finish his studies in the
Netherlands.


4. (U) The March 16 news report came on the heels of a
January 22 De Ware Tijd article, which had reported that two
Surinamers who had received scholarships to study in Beijing
had also quit their programs and returned to Suriname.
Originally, there were five students sent to China last fall,
according to a public statement by Chinese Ambassador to
Suriname Su Ge on China's National Day. These scholarships
had been coordinated by Suriname's Ministry of Education.
Post's EducationUSA advisor spoke with Richel Najatirta at
the Ministry of Education, who is in charge of scholarship
programs. Najatirta advised that this scholarship program
involved cost-sharing with the Chinese government covering
room, board, and tuition for the students while the
Surinamese government covered the roundtrip airfare.
Najatirta confirmed that the Ministry is currently in dispute
with the two students because they returned to Suriname
without notifying the Ministry. The Ministry is requesting
the students reimburse the Ministry the airfare costs.


5. (U) In contrast with the Venezuelans and the Chinese, the
Cuban government's scholarship program appeared to be going
strong this academic year. On December 8, 2008, the De Ware
Tijd reported that sixty Surinamese students were studying in
Cuba.


6. (SBU) Comment. Post's EducationUSA advisor has noted that
many of the students who come to the U.S. Embassy for
academic counseling are looking for scholarship
opportunities. With the comparatively high cost of studying
in the United States, combined with scholarship programs
offered by other countries' governments, it is hard to
attract Surinamese students to the United States at the
undergraduate level, especially when the United States rarely
offers to pay. Post is researching imaginative methods to
attract Surinamese students, including access to Fulbright
and Humphrey scholarship programs, but still is unlikely to
be able to fully compete with the apparently deep pockets of
the Venezuelans, Chinese, or the Cubans. End Comment.
SCHREIBER HUGHES