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Australia – Thailand links
strengthened through new Australian Scholarships
Australian Ambassador to Thailand, H.E. William Paterson PSM, opened his residence recently to congratulate recipients of this year’s Australian Scholarships.
The Australian Scholarships Program is an initiative of the Australian Government to promote education cooperation and development in the Asia-Pacific region. Over five years from 1 July 2006, Australian Scholarships will more than double the number of Australian education awards offered in the region. The awards, with a budget of AUD1.4 billion (around Bt36.4 billion), will give more than 19,000 people the opportunity to study and undertake research in Australia.
“The scholarships continue the spirit of the Colombo Plan, which for many years brought many benefits to the region. The Australian Scholarships Program demonstrates the high value Australia places on building knowledge transfer and expertise with our neighbours, but also building the personal links so important to our shared future,” said the Ambassador.
Australian Scholarships has brought together existing Australian Government Scholarship programs managed by the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) under one umbrella, with additional funds of AUD442.5 million (approximately Bt11.5 billion).
Under Australian Scholarships, AusAID has launched a new program of Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) focused on developing future leaders and addressing priority issues. This year, two promising young Thai students have won the awards and are now embarking on postgraduate courses in International Studies at the University of Queensland and the Australian National University.
DEST has also greatly expanded its Endeavour Program by providing international education experience across the vocational and technical education and higher education sectors, as well as postdoctoral research and professional development opportunities in Australia and overseas.
For the 2007 academic year, 13 scholars from Thailand won Endeavour Awards to join others from the Asia-Pacific region to study and conduct research at internationally-renowned universities across Australia. One Australian scholar will also undertake research at Mahasarakham University in northeast Thailand.
“Both Australian Leadership Awards and Endeavour Awards are internationally competitive and merit-based. I would like personally to congratulate high achieving Thai and Australian scholars for their determination. The experience of studying in Australia and Thailand will be a rewarding one and will create valuable links between our two countries that continue long after they return home,” said the Ambassador.