Future Indonesian Leaders Awarded Australian Scholarships and Fellowships

Jakarta (Antara) - The Australian Government has announced the selection of over 500 Indonesian students as 'Australia Awards' recipients in 2014, the Australian Embassy here said on its official website on Friday. The Australia Awards are prestigious international scholarships and fellowships funded by the Australian Government. They offer the next generation of global leaders an opportunity to undertake studies, research and professional development in Australia, and for high-achieving Australians to have the same opportunity overseas. "Our government provides the Australia Awards because it recogniZes that education develops skills and knowledge, and builds deep people, regional and professional links between our countries," Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Greg Moriarty said at a ceremony to honor the award winners here on Thursday. He added that Australia hoped the students, after their studies in Australia, would return home with new ideas and knowledge so they could make significant contributions as leaders in their communities, he told a select group of scholarship recipients. This year's awardees will pursue studies in a wide range of disciplines, including engineering, education, gender, agriculture, health, environment and science. Those winning include two Prime Minister's Australia Asia Postgraduate Scholarship awardees. This prestigious scholarship is awarded to the top 20 recipients of the Australia Awards Endeavour Postgraduate Scholarship in Asia. It gives the graduates the opportunity to undertake an internship or work placement in Australia on completion of their PhDs. In 2012-2013, the Australian Government spent $306.4 million on the Australia Awards, enabling nearly 5,000 recipients from more than 117 countries to undertake study, research and professional development. Indonesia, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea were the three largest recipient countries of Australia Awards last year, with 55 per cent of incoming recipients from the Asia region. The Australian Government has provided scholarships to Indonesia for over 60 years. Since 1999, there have been approximately 5800 Australia Awards scholarship recipients in Indonesia. (*)