Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 24 January (HL4591), whether they will provide details of (1) the two education projects supported in Swaziland, and (2) the two education projects supported in Lesotho in 2017.

I regret that due to an administrative error, my previous response initially contained incorrect information. This has been corrected on the Official Report (PQ HL4591) since the question was tabled.

In fact, the British Council supported one project in Swaziland and one in Lesotho in 2017. In both cases, this was the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP). The CSFP is an annual scheme made available to all the Commonwealth countries by the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission.

The CSFP is aimed at students of Commonwealth countries who can make a significant contribution to their home country after the completion of a higher education programme in the UK. The British Council provides pre-departure briefings for all scholars on living and studying in the UK, and looks after alumni relations including periodic networking events. The British Council held pre-departure briefings in 2017 and 2016 for scholars from Swaziland and Lesotho.