Australia will grant 300 scholarships to Vietnamese students in 2010, doubling last year’ figure, said Graham Alliband, director of the Australian Scholarship for Development in Vietnam (ASDiV) at a conference on June 15. 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 Phap Luat Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh newspaper reported June 16. Applicants from disadvantaged rural and ethnic minority areas will receive priorities this year, it added. Vietnam had sent 15,900 students to study in Australia by May 2009, ranking the 7th among foreign countries, a rise of 60% compared to 2008, 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.
