KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 (Bernama) — China is offering 50 scholarships for Malaysian students to take up further studies in Chinese language in China beginning next year.
China’s vice minister for education Prof Hao Ping, who is on a working visit here, said the scholarship was for a one-year programme at selected top-notch universities in China.
He also encouraged non-Chinese Malaysians to apply for the scholarship.
“We hope that Malaysians especially Malays and Indians will take up this opportunity to study Chinese language. The application will open soon and the first batch of students will begin their study in September next year,” he told a news conference at the University of Malaya (UM) on Wednesday.
He said apart from the scholarship, the Chinese government was also giving 100 places for Malaysians to study Chinese language courses on a short-term basis in China.
Earlier, Hao and Deputy Higher Education Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung witnessed the signing of Memorandum of Agreement between Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) and UM to establish the Kongzi Institute for the Teaching of Chinese Language at the university.
Under the agreement, Hanban is providing a US$150,000 start-up grant for the institute, aside from providing language instructors and 3,000 volume of Chinese books and teaching materials for learning purposes.
The Institute is expected to receive its first batch of students this October, and application is open to the public.
“We hope that this programme will encourage more people to take up and master the Chinese language, especially in view of the emerging importance of China in the global stage,” Dr Hou said.