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The Education Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Indonesian Government today (December 16) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on education co-operation to enhance education collaboration between the two places.
The MOU was signed by the Under Secretary for Education, Mr Kevin Yeung, and the Secretary General of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia, Mr Didik Suhardi, in Jakarta, Indonesia.
"The MOU marks an important milestone in the partnership and enhanced relationship between Hong Kong and Indonesia, and signifies a new stage of our closer co-operation in the field of education. With continuous support from the governments and educational sectors of both places, I have confidence that the MOU will facilitate more comprehensive exchange and collaboration on education between the two places," Mr Yeung said at the signing ceremony.
The MOU provides a framework to facilitate strategic collaboration between the education communities of Hong Kong and Indonesia. Initiatives include the provision of scholarships to students; exchange of knowledge, expertise and experience through meetings, conferences and workshops; exchange of literature on education, teaching aids and demonstration materials; and exchange of scholars, teachers, experts, students and other education personnel. The main text of the MOU is available on the website of the Education Bureau (www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/postsecondary/policy-doc/index.html).
Following the signing of the MOU, the Education Bureau today announced the launch of the Hong Kong Scholarship for "Belt and Road" Students (Indonesia) with a view to attracting outstanding Indonesian students to pursue undergraduate study in Hong Kong starting from the 2016/17 academic year.
Up to 10 scholarships will be offered to Indonesian students who are enrolled in publicly funded degree programmes in Hong Kong each year starting from the 2016/17 academic year. All awardees will receive a scholarship of up to HK$120,000 per annum to cover tuition fees. In addition, a bursary of HK$50,000 per student per annum will be provided from private donation to financially needy awardees who need additional support to pursue their study in Hong Kong. Details of the new scholarship scheme are available on the website of the Education Bureau (www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/postsecondary/local-higher-edu/publicly-funded-programmmes/scholarship.html).
"Both the signing of the MOU and launch of the new scholarship scheme demonstrate our commitment and effort in enhancing the internationalisation of education as well as strengthening educational ties and exchanges between Hong Kong and places along the 'Belt and Road' region," Mr Yeung said.
The Chief Executive, Mr CY Leung, met the President of Indonesia, Mr Joko Widodo, in Jakarta this September and both sides agreed to step up co-operation in different areas, in particular education, to enhance bilateral ties between Hong Kong and Indonesia. Based on their exchanges, the MOU discussion was concluded and the new scholarship scheme was initiated and introduced.
Ends/Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:54
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