Hong Kong Provides Scholarship For Indonesian Students

Hong Kong (Antara Bali) - The Hong Kong government will provide scholarships to Indonesian students for undergraduate education program in Hong Kong.

The program is part of the memorandum of understanding signed by the Secretary General of the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture Didik Suhardi together with the Under Secretary for Education Bureau of Hong Kong (SAR)/Deputy Minister of Education, Kevin, in Jakarta on Wednesday.

"The scholarship will be valid from the academic year 2016 for ten Indonesian prospective undergraduate students," Indonesian Consul General to Hong Kong Chalief Akbar Tjandraningrat stated via a text message sent to Antara here on Wednesday.

The agreement is part of the educational cooperation between the governments of Indonesia and the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of Hong Kong.

The governments of Indonesia and Hong Kong have strengthened cooperation in the field of secondary and higher education programs, sister schools and student exchanges, dual degree programs, professor visitation and joint research.

Data from the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture shows that every year 5-6 thousand Indonesians study abroad with scholarships from the government. Hong Kong has a system of 12 years of compulsory study but will now be implementing a 15 year compulsory education program.

The number of foreign students studying in universities in Hong Kong increased from ten percent to 20 percent, according to the data of the Ministry of Education of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong occupies the third position in the world based on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012.  This program measures the ability of students aged 15. The average value of a Hong Kong student on the PISA scale is, for math 561, reading 545, and science 555. (WDY)