Kiwi Envoy promotes post-grad scholarship at Xavier Ateneo
Report by Karl Aparece
Photos by Rogelio Amarille
New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines, His Excellency Peter Kell, visited Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan on February 4 to showcase post-graduate scholarship opportunities in New Zealand.
Kell was joined by Dyan Aimee Rodriguez (New Zealand Aid Program manager), Noelle Velasquez (policy adviser), and Education New Zealand represented by Desiree Lee, market manager (Education New Zealand), Angela Drake, manager for international relations (Massey University), and Yuki Fukui, regional market manager (University of Otago).
Rodriguez said scholars are entitled to receive full scholarship, stipend, and other benefits shouldered by the universities.
Courses offered include but are not limited to good governance, food security and agriculture, and disaster and risk management.
The scholarship is geared towards development and graduates are required to go back to the Philippines for a minimum of two years to contribute to the country.
Only 24 scholars aged 18-24 years old with a minimum of two-year work experience will be pooled from the entire country.
Lee assured that scholars would not feel lonely in New Zealand because of the cohesive international community that universities have aside from the local community culture. She relates having bonded with tight Filipino community there.
Kell explained that so long as aspiring scholars can relate their majors to the Interdisciplinary courses being offered for scholarship and that they have a vision in mind on how they can contribute to the world, then they can be chosen as one of the 24 fortunate scholars.
He added that the NZ Embassy will work harder to bring more scholarship opportunities in the future, as well as to expand the courses offered by their universities. ∎
Please visit www.mfat.govt.nz/en/aid-