‘Inclusive scholarships’ to help Arakan State students fund higher education 

By Myo Thiri Kyaw 18 Aug 2020

Myo Thiri Kyaw| DMG
18 August, Sittwe 

Students in Arakan State who passed the matriculation exam in the 2019-2020 academic year will again be awarded “inclusive scholarships” to further their studies at institutions of higher learning, according to the Center for Diversity and National Harmony. 

Ko Arr Man, manager of the CDNH, said the scholarships will be awarded to students to join nursing and midwifery training schools, and degree-granting colleges and universities, with outstanding students given first priority. 

“Students who join a university of distance education are not included in the program because they can earn money by working while they are pursuing their education. The scholarship is mainly intended for students who are facing financial difficulties to join university,” Ko Arr Man said. 

Students will be provided the Myanmar kyats equivalent of US$200 monthly, and applicants “should be facing hardships, due to financial or security issues,” according to a press release from the CDNH. 

“We could award the scholarship to 100 students last year. The closing date of the application this year will be mid-October, although it was closed in December last year. The number of students for this year will be higher than last year, but I cannot tell the exact number at the moment,” Ko Arr Man said. 

He added that selected students will have to sign a commitment to fostering diversity and harmony and to work in their community in Arakan State if it is necessary, after they have completed their higher education studies. 

The scholarship will be provided for up to four years of post-secondary studies so long as the selected students score passing marks annually, the CDNH said. 

Students can obtain application forms at relevant township education offices, township General Administration Departments, CDNH branch offices or at www.cdnh.org/RakhineScholarships, and the center is requesting both hard and soft copy submissions as laid out at the link above. 

Applicants should be legal, current residents of Arakan State. 

About 1,000 students who passed the matriculation exam in the 2018-19 academic year applied last year and 100 of them were selected. 

The scholarships project is being supported by the Embassies of Norway and Denmark.