Take your education to the SEAs

Plans for a fully integrated Southeast Asian region by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has brought about many opportunities in trade, arts & culture, travel, and of course, education. The Philippines has been a popular destination for students from all across Asia due to cheaper tuition fees and our mastery of the English language. For example, plenty of Koreans come here to study English, Indians have found Davao City to be a good place to take medical studies, and the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) has become the go‑to destination for agriculture students from the ASEAN region due to being the headquarters of both the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Because if there’s something that binds our cultures, it’s food. (You can visit SEARCA’s website for opportunities in agriculture in other Southeast Asian nationalities.)

Here are more education opportunities in the ASEAN region:

Singapore

The Ministry of Education of Singapore offers university scholarships specifically for ASEAN students. Here are the requirements for Philippine students, although applications have just finished for next school year.

The Singaporean Government’s Singapore Cooperation Program offers programs related to nation-building such as trade, policy and administration, and law, to those who get sponsorship from their respective governments.

Malaysia

The Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia offers post‑graduate and doctoral scholarships in the fields of science, agriculture, economics, information and communication technology, infrastructure, biotechnology, environmental studies and food safety.

The University Putra Malaysia has the following scholarships available in the fields of science, economics, engineering, arts, and communication.

Indonesia

The Kemitraan Negara Berkembang (KNB) Scholarship by the Indonesian government links developing countries, including the Philippines, to sixteen different universities across the Indonesian archipelago for graduate studies.

The Darmasiswa Scholarship is a non‑degree scholarship offered by the Indonesian Government to students from countries it has diplomatic ties to for further studies of the Bahasa Indonesia language and Indonesian culture.

Brunei

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei Darussalam facilitates scholarships of forerign students to four of its universities: Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Unersiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ari (UNISSA), Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) and Politeknik Brunei (PB). Here are the elegibility and requirements for the ongoing schoolyear.

Thailand

The Office of the Civil Service Commission of Thailand offers two scholarships: the King’s Scholarship for non‑Thai nationals and the Royal Thai Government Scholarship Program for those who passed Thailand’s civil service exam. Go here for more information on those programs in English.

There are several scholarships available for students who wish to study in the Asian Institute of Technology in Pathum Thani, Thailand.

Vietnam

The following are the government‑sponsored scholarship opportunities in Vietnam according to its Ministry of Education and Training.

The RMIT University of Vietnam, a part of the Australian‑based RMIT University, offers courses in business, techonology, design, fashion and communication, as well as the following scholarships for undergraduate, post‑graduate, and doctoral studies.