Teco honors top Filipino scholars in Taiwan Scholarship Awards rite

IMPLEMENTING its “New Southbound Policy” to enhance cooperation with neighboring countries, the Republic of China’s (Taiwan) Ministry of Education (MOE) and the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) have selected anew outstanding Filipino students as scholarship-recipients to study in the island-state.

This year, 18 students were awarded with the MOE’s scholarship, 45 students will study Mandarin through the “Huayu (Mandarin) Enrichment Scholarship,” while seven were awarded with the Taiwan ICDF study grant.

On July 28, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (Teco) in the Philippines held the 2023 Scholarship Awards Ceremony for the 70 scholarship recipients. During the program, new representative Wallace Minn-Gan Chow congratulated the scholars for their achievements, as he encouraged them to promote study opportunities in Taiwan to friends and colleagues.

“Over the past years, more and more Filipinos have chosen Taiwan as their higher education destination for advanced studies, and they have earned high praises from academic institutions in Taiwan,” Chow said. “They are not only highly regarded, but…also… possess admirable work ethics and uphold high academic standards.” He also talked about future linkages with leading universities in the Philippines for fields related to electronics, artificial intelli - gence or AI, and semiconductors, then motivated everyone to take advantage of work opportunities in Taiwan in these fields.

Some of the scholars shared their motivations for choosing Taiwan as their study destination. ICDF Scholar Lindsey Yu took her Master’s degree there because of “[its] success in terms of democracy and freedom of speech.” She hopes to return to the Philippines after her studies at the National Tsing Hua University, and help her country achieve the same success.

Meanwhile, MOE scholar Karen Yu opted to study in Taiwan “because of its reputation [as] one of the most accommodating countries to foreigners who wish to study abroad. Furthermore, Taiwan’s proximity to the Philippines makes it feel like a home away from home.”

Yu will be pursuing her Master’s degree at the National Chengchi University, and looks forward to exploring the city while meeting new people from the institution to learn more about the culture.

Prior to learning Mandarin, Rubielyn Causapin had lived in Taiwan, and fell in love with its culture, food, people, history, and breathtaking landscape. This year, she will return there to further her studies through the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship.

Teco in the Philippines wishes this year’s scholars a pleasant stay in Taiwan, and is determined to attract more Filipino students for local matriculation.