Eleven Ghanaian Professionals have been awarded Australian government scholarships to study at one of the 42 Australian Universities participating in the Australian Development Scholarships, ADS, programme next year.

The Ghanaians join 239 other Africans selected for the 2011 intake.

They will be studying at the Post Graduate or Master degree level in the main priority areas such as public policy, agriculture, food security, natural resource management, health, water and sanitation as agreed with each participating partner government.

A statement issued by the Australian High Commission in Accra said, the students are required to return to their home countries after the completion of their studies to contribute to the development of the identified priority sector in their home countries.

It said Australia is pleased to support the development of the human capacity of the public sector in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Burkina Faso through the Australian Development Scholarship programme.

The statement said Scholarships have always been a strong part of Australia development cooperation programme and engagement in Africa providing about 3,600 scholarships to African student since 1960.

Support for this project is part of Australia's commitment to broadening and deepening engagement of Africa, including trade and investment, diplomacy and development assistance.