Scholarships and Advanced Training Division

The Scholarships and Advanced Training Division has responsibility for the administration of scholarships and long-term technical assistance awards offered by/ through the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

Government scholarships enable nationals to acquire skills and training in areas that are critical to the development of the country.

The core functions of the SATD are:

  • Processing the offer of training awards to nationals;
  • Serving as the Secretariat of the Scholarship Selection Committee and the Scholarship Review Committee;
  • Implementing procedures to enable successful candidates to take up their awards;
  • Servicing awards, monitoring the progress of trainees and ensuring that they make themselves available to fulfil their contractual obligations;
  • Facilitating the placement of returned scholars;
  • Ensuring the recovery of monies spent on awards in the case of defaulting trainees.
  • Prior to the establishment of the Personnel Department in 1965, the administration of scholarships granted by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and those obtained under Technical Assistance Programmes were undertaken by the Ministry of Education and later on, by the Ministry of Finance.

However, with the establishment of the Personnel Department in 1965, this function was transferred to this new Department to be carried out by Scholarships and Advanced Training Section of the Training Division.

The Scholarships and Advanced Training Division, as it is now called, functioned under the Personnel Department from 1965 to October 1999 when it was transferred to the Ministry of Planning and Development.

In June 2001, following the re-organisation of Government Ministries/Departments, the Scholarships and Advanced Training Division was placed in the Ministry of Human Development, Youth and Culture, which was renamed the Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education.

The Ministry of Public Administration and Information was reformed in October 2002, and the operations of the Scholarships and Advanced Training Division were transferred to the Ministry of Public Administration where it remained until 2015.

Subsequent to the General Elections of 2015 the Scholarships and Advanced Training Division was transferred to the Ministry of Education.