Australia will grant 300 scholarships to Vietnamese students this year, doubling last year’ figure, said Graham Alliband, director of the Australian Scholarship for Development in Vietnam (ASDiV). Under the ASDiV 2010, priority areas of study will include economic integration, climate change, water and sanitation, university teaching and research capacity and English language teaching, the Thanh Nien newspaper reported June 29. Applicants from disadvantaged rural and ethnic minority areas will receive favors, it added. Vietnam had sent 15,900 students for studying in Australia by May 2009, ranking the 7th among foreign countries, up 60% on-year, said the International Education Agency-Australia (IEAA). The biggest increase was in the fields of general education and vocational training with over 4,090 Vietnamese students registering to study, up 107% against 2008.
