MOE boosts study abroad grants for Pakistani & other SE countries students

Taipei, Taiwan: Deputy Education Minister Chen Liang-gee on Wednesday announced the schemes to boost the number of study abroad grants for Southeast Asian countries, increasing the slots in "Xuehai" university exchange program by as many as 50.

This move of Ministry of Education (MOE) took place in association along with the President Tsai Ing-wen's "New Southward Policy," said Chen.

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The new government policy  is targeted to lessen the economic reliance of Taiwan on mainland China by encouraging closer ties along with ASEAN member states and six South Asian countries: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and India as well.

During an experience sharing session among the aspirants who had returned from abroad, Chen congratulated them on availing the opportunity.

"I am quite lucky to have studied abroad on government funding myself. I believe that the aspirants will discover contrasts among various cultures and their own after the experience, and that these contrasts will assist to provoke as well as to sharpen their viewpoints."

As per MOE, the Xuehai Program has sent 18,386 local students to abroad for studies or internships since its establishment in 2007. In recent years, over 2,000 aspirants are sent abroad every year, to more than 60 countries.

According to the ministry official Huang Jing-Ya, "The United States and Japan have been the most popular endpoints". "However, due to the change in, we hope to see a significant shift toward ASEAN countries and India."

The ministry also declares its strategies to place more importance on industry-academic cooperation in its Xuehai Program most remarkably; it has increased the number of foreign internship opportunities.

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Emily Huang, a college senior who interned at a Vietnam-based wooden furnishing firm last summer, said that although most of her classmates preferred to stay close to home, she will not rule out working in Vietnam when she graduates next year.

"Job opportunities are not enough in Taiwan," she added.

Though the environment may not be as clean in Vietnam, the people there are warm, Huang said. She recalled that Vietnam is ranked among the happiest countries in the world.