Canadian supporters of Commonwealth scholarships for graduate students say the British government’s recent decision to bar applicants from developed countries like Canada is “short-sighted” and “a slap in the face,” according to today’s Globe and Mail, a Toronto-based newspaper.

The scholarship program, now in its 50th year, will remain open to students from developing countries, particularly those seen as most closely aligned with Britain’s foreign-policy interests, such as China and India.

The shift was announced quietly in a written ministerial statement presented in Parliament in March by David Miliband, Britain’s secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs.

“We will maintain a global scheme, but we will focus scholarships particularly on those countries, such as China and India, which are going to be most important to our foreign-policy success over coming years,” the statement said.

The changes, which were opposed by Britain’s university association, are expected to save the British government nearly $20-million a year.

Current Canadian recipients of the scholarships will be allowed to finish their degree programs. About 30 Canadians each year have received the scholarships — some 1,500 in all since 1960. —Karen Birchard