OT: SOUTH GOBI STUDENTS WILL RETURN TO THEIR HOMELAND AFTER GRADUATION

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ "Educated people are the true wealth of the nation,” says the phrase. In order to help realise this, Oyu Tolgoi supports Mongolia’s best students by providing scholarships for study at Mongolian and international universities. This is a key commitment in a Memorandum of Understanding, signed with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in 2010. One of these scholarship schemes is known as the Gobi scholarship programme. Based on local needs and the Omnogobi aimag’s human resource development policies, the scholarships help capable students to study the professions needed for social and economic development in the region. The funding encourages students to return to work in their communities after graduation. Scholarship applicants need a minimum GPA of 3.2 or higher and must commit to return to work in their native aimag after graduation. In return, OT bears the full cost of tuition. Scholarships are awarded in cooperation with the Governor's office and administered by a management team comprised of representatives of civil society organisations. The team is responsible for developing a live list of the most sought-after professions in the South Gobi, as well as selecting successful applicants. The team also plays an intermediary role in helping the students find suitable jobs after graduation. So far, 242 students from the Omnogobi aimag have benefited from the Gobi scholarship programme with OT spending MNT 441.1 million on domestic scholarships. Selection for the next round of Gobi scholarships will begin soon. Some of the previous recipients of the scholarships have shared their thoughts on the benefits of the programme. Uuriintuya Ariunkhuu, native of the aimag’s Khankhongor soum, is a fourth year student of literature and literary criticism at the Social Sciences School of the National University of Mongolia. Although she is studying literary criticism, she dreams of becoming a journalist or teacher in the future. Her parents run a small business back home and she is the oldest of two girls. Last year she was awarded an OT scholarship and is delighted to receive the support. After graduation, she will return to the Gobi to work. OT pays her full tuition costs and dormitory expenses, allowing her to concentrate solely on her studies. Uuriintuya loves poetry and is a keen writer of poems. During the summer vacation, she undertook a month’s internship at the local "Golden Gobi" TV channel, giving her a chance to practice journalism. "Young people are lucky, you know? I will work for three years back home and am confident in the future. I feel very proud," she says. Myagmarsuren Bat-Erdene, a native of Omnogobi’s Bayandalai soum, won the national school Olympics and was invited to study at the Mongolian-Turkish school. He won the Olympics again in 2009 and received an invitation to study at the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences. B.Myagmarsuren will graduate next spring as a doctor. His parents are herders in his native Naran bagh. They own about 500 head of livestock. His mother graduated from Dornogovi medical school with honours and worked as a doctor in the soum for more than 20 years. This influenced his choice of a medical career. "After graduation, I will work at the soum hospital for one year, then another year in the aimag hospital and after two more years, I will become a specialist medical doctor,” he says. “I plan to return to my soum and work for at least three years in total. He accumulated a lot of experience through internships at the National Trauma Research Centre and Skin Disease Research Centre during his second year of study. He also spent time during his third and fourth years at the aimag’s clinic. Last summer he worked as a baga’s (the smallest administrative unit) medical doctor in Bayandalai soum. At this point, he realised the value placed on the medical profession by people. "Countryside people have great respect for doctors and even older citizens address me as doctor. This is a great honour,” says B.Myagmarsuren with pride. He is determined to become a good doctor who is respected in the community. A good wrestler himself, he also loves national wrestling and likes to play basketball. Last summer, he successfully competed at the local naadam. Taivan Bayasgalan, native of Dalanzadgad graduated from secondary school in the aimag and joined the University of Science and Technology. He is currently studying to become a civil engineer and architect. His father works as a guard at the aimag's municipal palace and his mother is a nurse. B.Taivan says, “I will return to work in my home town after graduation. Our aimag is implementing a programme called ‘New Dalanzadgad’ to construct many buildings, including apartment blocks for 50 families, as well as new schools. Construction is good work which benefits many people." Last summer he worked at six construction material factories, at the construction site of MCS Group, and on the construction of the Buyant-Ukhaa apartment complex. He believes that this will help to strengthen the knowledge he has learned in class by linking theory with practice. He is also a political and social activist. He is member of an international student network which has branches in 124 countries. He has a vision to develop young leaders in Mongolia and is interested in the art of rhetoric. He has won the national rhetoric championship in Ulaanbaatar and was listed in the top 25 in the intellectual Olympics.