We celebrate power of young minds to design next 50 yrs: Helen LaFave

Deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Dhaka Helen LaFave on Wednesday hosted a graduation ceremony of 50 Dhaka-based students of the English Access Microscholarship Program, reports UNB.

The Language Proficiency Center administered the program. LaFave praised the 25 young women and 25 young men from local madrasas and public schools for their hard work in completing the two-year course during the pandemic.

“This year, we are celebrating 50 years of friendship between the United States and Bangladesh and we celebrate the power of young minds to design the next 50 years. You can take your new skills and use them as leaders who will shape the future of Bangladesh,” LaFave said.

The English Access Microscholarship Program, funded by the US Department of State, is a rigorous, two-year interactive program building a foundation in English language, American culture, critical thinking, and leadership skills for 13-17-year-old students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and helps them become more competitive for higher education and employment opportunities.

Since it began in 2004, 1,300 Bangladeshi students have successfully completed the program.

Today’s graduating class joins almost 100,000 other Access program alumni in more than 85 countries around the world.

The Access program strengthens and expands people-to-people ties and educational linkages between the United States and Bangladesh, enhances the quality of education locally, and empowers Bangladeshi youth through innovative learning opportunities.

The Language Proficiency Center (LPC) Bangladesh was set up in August 1998, initially as a family charity with a mission to provide marginalized professionals and students an opportunity to develop their communicative English language skills and basic computer skills without charge, with a vision is to empower young females and males from marginalized communities to compete and seek a better life.