| Danial Norjidi |
THE Australian Government is offering the opportunity for five Bruneians to embark on their master’s studies in Australia, under the Australian Awards-Asean Scholarship.
Nicola Rosenblum, the Australian High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam shared this in an interview yesterday.
She explained that the scholarship, at this stage, is a one-off award. “This is actually an initiative that came out of the Asean-Australia Summit which took place in Sydney last month.
There will be 50 prestigious Asean-Australia scholarships that will be offered to people from Asean member countries, including five from Brunei,” the envoy added.
Applications for the scholarship are now open, and the closing date to submit applications is April 30.
Speaking on the criteria for selection, she said, “The scholarships will be awarded to students who contribute to Asean’s three pillars. Those are: Political-Security – contributing to peace and stability of Southeast Asia; Economic – promoting Asean’s economic integration and inclusive growth; and Socio-Cultural – creating an Asean Community that’s people-centred and socially responsible.
“So those are the kind of criteria we’re looking at – we’re looking at students whose studies contribute to those three Asean pillars,” she said. “They don’t have to contribute to all three pillars – just one of the three pillars.
“The scholarships include all necessary support and funding to complete post-graduate study in Australia, so it’s quite a comprehensive scholarship. It’s not just the study part or the living part – it’s the whole thing.
“Successful awardees will begin their studies in 2019,” she said.
“They of course have to have an undergraduate degree in order to be eligible to apply for a Master’s study. We also encourage people with disabilities to apply. The closing date for applications is April, so the important thing is for everyone to get their applications in as soon as possible,” the Australian High Commissioner said.
“Don’t miss the opportunity. The window will close at the end of the month. This is a wonderful opportunity for them to be ambassadors for their country, forge closer relations between Australia and Brunei and achieve some real personal development goals for themselves and become leaders in their own community,” she added.
More information on eligibility and how to apply can be found on the Australian High Commission’s website bruneidarussalam.embassy.gov.au.
The high commissioner highlighted that Australia and Brunei share close bonds in the education space. “Our ties really are quite deep on education, so I’m really pleased that we will be able to contribute to furthering those bonds.”
She noted that more than 12,000 Bruneians have already studied in Australia. “A number of Bruneian universities have twinning programmes and arrangements that allow Bruneian students to study part of their degree in Australia.
“Beyond tertiary education in Australia, we also have the New Colombo Plan, which is an Australian Government initiative where Australian students come to Brunei for work and study placements. More than 80 Australian students have come to Brunei in the last few years under this programme.
“Under the Bridge School Partnerships programme, we have primary and secondary school teachers from Brunei and Australia that are currently undergoing exchanges,” she said. “It’s a wonderful programme which not only creates teacher partnerships but also fosters community between students at the primary and secondary level.
“These new scholarships will really contribute to what’s already quite a broad education relationship,” she added.
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