Western Australia is exploring opportunities to strengthen the educational ties between Bhutan and the state. The Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly and the delegates who are in the country said the Western Australian Premier’s University Scholarship Programme will be extended to Bhutanese from next year. The Western Australian government announced the scholarship programme last year and it is provided to ten postgraduate international students to study in five universities in the state.
For now, international students from 13 different countries are eligible for the scholarship. The scholarship programme will run for four years until 2026.
“We offer our recently announced premier scholarships of up to fifty thousand dollars for outstanding students for them to study in Perth. In the first instance, they have been offered to Indian students but as of 2024, that scholarship will be open to Bhutan,” said Michelle Roberts, the Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly.
Moreover, with an increasing number of Bhutanese studying in Western Australia, the Speaker added that they are working on solving the housing crunch and employment issues.
The Speaker also said that the Western Australian government will be relaxing the immigration protocols henceforth.
“We are looking at making conditions much better. We had a change of government at the Federal level one year ago, and the new government has been reviewing immigration. By enhancing the experience and allowing people to stay longer and potentially work more and have a better experience. We are, if anything, relaxing the immigration conditions,” added the Speaker.
The delegates further added that since Bhutan is going through a digital transformation, educational support is one field that the Western Australian government can offer to support Bhutan’s transformation.
Tashi Yangden
Edited by Tshering Zam
