55 M'sians Win Scholarships To Study In Taiwan & 30% Of Them Are Non-Mandarin Speakers
The Taiwanese government has been establishing Muslim-friendly environments and English courses to attract more international students to study in Taiwan.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 26 Jul 2022, 11:46 AM
A total of 55 Malaysian students have been awarded the 2022 Education Ministry Taiwan Scholarship and Huayu Enrichment Scholarship (HES) to pursue an education in Taiwan this year
According to New Straits Times, the students will be enrolled in academic degrees and short-term Mandarin courses.
Taiwan's Ministry of Education awarded the scholarships to 39 recipients, six of whom will be undertaking doctoral degree programmes, 21 master's degrees, and 12 undergraduate degree programmes.
The remaining 16 recipients received scholarships from HES. They will learn Mandarin in the university-affiliated language centres.
15 out of the 55 awardees are non-Chinese, and will undertake Mandarin courses, as well as various undergraduate and master's degree programmes in Taiwan.
Bernama reported that three students were awarded the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) Scholarship, and two students from Kedah were awarded scholarships offered by National Cheng Kung University.
Speaking at the event, Anne Hung, the representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia, said the number of Malaysian students studying in Taiwan has almost doubled in recent years
According to her, the number has jumped from 7,500 students in 2011 to around 13,000 students in 2021.
"Malaysian students have always performed really well. We have strived for more scholarship quotas from the Education Ministry over the years," she said on Monday, 25 July, reported New Straits Times.
"Recipients of the Taiwan Scholarship have increased from 20 in 2019 to 39 this year. HES recipients have also increased to 16."
It is understood that Taiwan has been offering scholarships to Malaysian students since 2004.
Hung added that it has gotten progressively more competitive for students to attain the scholarships over the years.
"We are also glad that more and more non-Chinese Malaysian students have noticed that Taiwan is an ideal destination for them to further their studies," Bernama quoted her as saying.
"For example, this year, among the 55 scholarship recipients, 15 of them are Malays."
Hung continued to elaborate on Taiwan's competitiveness in the global economy and its government's effort to make its campuses more attractive to foreign students
Citing the 2022 World Competitiveness Yearbook released by the Switzerland-based Institute for Management Development (IMD), she said Taiwan is the seventh most competitive economy.
She also said Taiwan has been able to attract foreign students to study in the country because of its cultural society.
"With the rising number of English courses being introduced in the universities and colleges in Taiwan and the government's effort to establish a Muslim-friendly environment, many international students are keen to explore the (Taiwan) experiences, either by undertaking full-time degree courses or learning Mandarin," she explained.
New Straits Times reported 25-year-old Nor Ain Daniella Abdul Samad, a scholarship recipient, as saying that she has always wanted to learn Mandarin since she was in elementary school but was not able to do so due to a lack of opportunity.
"This is why I am thankful for this scholarship and I am very excited as I hope to learn as much as I can in the three months given to expand my knowledge in Mandarin," she said.
Anne Hung, the representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia, (centre) presenting a scholarship certificate to Nor Ain Daniella Abdul Samad yesterday, 25 July.
Image via Hazreen Mohamad/New Straits Times