Japanese Government Offers Scholarships To Malaysian Students

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- Applications for the Japanese government scholarships for Malaysians to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Japan for the academic year 2013 is now open. In a statement Tuesday, the Japanese embassy said the Monbukagakusho scholarship for undergraduate is open for applicants who have completed SPM or O-Level with at least 11 years of formal education, as well as those who have completed STPM, UEC, Matriculation or Diploma. Applicants must be between 17 to 22 years old on April 1, 2013 and have a good command of the English language, it said. Those qualified will be given 117,000 yen (about RM4,300) in allowance for five to seven years of degree course from April 2013. Applications must reach the embassy before 4pm on April 13. For the postgraduate courses, applicants must be under 35 years old on April 1,2013, a degree holder with first or second class upper honours degree, and undergraduates in the final year at respective universities, it said. Civil servants are also eligible to apply through Malaysian Public Service Department (JPA) by visiting www.jpa.gov.my or contact JPA at 03-8885 3432. Postgraduate students will be given 143,000 yen (about RM5,300) for one-and-a-half-year or two-year course from April or Oct 2013. Application due date for non-civil servants is April 6 and March 30 for civil servants. More information can be obtained from the website www.my.emb-japan.go.jp or by contacting the embassy at 03-2177 2600 (ext 146 for undergraduate, ext 157 for postgraduate). -- BERNAMA