Education | Brunei calls on scholarship applicants

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brunei is calling on applicants for its Scholarship Award Scheme for the upcoming academic session – including students from the Macau SAR.

According to an announcement made by the administration, the scholarship program is applicable to students who wish to undertake a diploma, undergraduate degree or postgraduate master’s degree at its four universities, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali, Universiti Teknologi Brunei and Politeknik Brunei.

Applications are open to citizens of ASEAN, Commonwealth and Organization of Islamic Cooperation member states.

The scholarship recipient will be exempted from tuition fees and other related fees for the duration of the program, in addition to receiving an air-ticket to Brunei from the recipient’s country of origin.

The scholarship also includes a monthly personal allowance, meal allowance and an annual book allowance of around MOP3,000, MOP900 and MOP3,500 respectively.

The administration reminds applicants that upon completion of the program, the scholarship recipient will be required to leave the country with immediate effect.

Interested applicants can submit application documents to the Brunei consulate in Hong Kong by 4 p.m. tomorrow.

The Higher Education Bureau (DSES), which changed its name from the ‘Higher Education Office’ after the Chinese New Year period denoting the bureau as an autonomous administration body, said it forwarded the notice to students who have been receiving scholarships from the bureau.

As cited in the Official Gazette, the bureau has increased its responsibilities in implementing the requirements of the city’s higher education system.

The DSES will be comprised of the Student Affairs Office, the Department for Higher Education Cooperation and Science and Technology and the Office of General Affairs.

Sou Chi Fai, the current director of DSES, along with his deputy director, will continue their contract until they are completed.

As previously announced at an Executive Council press conference, the bureau’s budget has been increased by MOP4 million.  LV