US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller has congratulated Sylhet’s 20 newest graduates of the U.S. State Department-funded English Access Microscholarship Program during a virtual ceremony.
Ambassador Miller praised the 10 young women and 10 young men from local madrasas and public schools for their hard work in completing the course during the pandemic and encouraged them to continue their studies to prepare for the future.
“Bangladesh just marked its Golden Jubilee – the day when it declared its intention and ability to chart its own path. There’s no better time to recognize the power of young minds – like yours – to design the next 50 years. You can take your new skills and use them as leaders who will shape the future of Bangladesh,” he said.
The English Access Microscholarship Program is a rigorous, two-year interactive program building a foundation in English language, American culture, critical thinking, and leadership skills for 13-17-year-olds from economically-disadvantaged backgrounds and helps them become more competitive for higher education and employment opportunities. Currently, 76 students are participating in Access programs in Rajshahi and Chattogram.
Two hundred additional students will start the program in 2021. Since the program began in 2004, 1,260 Bangladeshi students have successfully completed it. Today’s graduating class joins 95,000 other Access program alumni in more than 85 countries around the world.
Empowerment and Human Development Society, the Embassy’s implementing partner for this Access program, played an integral role in helping convert the interactive in-person course and materials to an online program.
The Access program is one of U.S. Embassy Dhaka’s many initiatives during this Golden Jubilee year to strengthen and expand people-to-people ties and educational linkages between the United States and Bangladesh, enhance the quality of education locally, and empower Bangladeshi youth through innovative learning opportunities, the US embassy in Dhaka said.
