Education News!!!

27 Thais receive Australian top academic awards

The Nation January 23, 2012 1:00 am

Australian Ambassador to Thailand, James Wise, yesterday presented Australia Awards scholarships to 27 scholars and professionals from Thailand.

Each year, the Australian Government offers Australia Awards scholarships to highachieving students, researchers and professionals from around the world to study in Australia's education institutions or undertake professional development programmes. The scholarships are internationallycompetitive and meritbased.

This year, 27 Thais were chosen for a prestigious Australia Award. Twenty Thais received Endeavour Awards for high achievement in their specific field. Two were granted the Prime Minister's AustraliaAsia Award, an elite scholarship presented to only twenty Endeavour postgraduate doctorate awardees worldwide.

An additional seven awardees received Australian Leadership Awards (ALAs), which are part of Australia's development programme administered by AusAID. ALAs are aimed at addressing priority development areas in the recipient's country and region.

"The Australia Awards promote the sharing of knowledge, strengthen mutual understanding between Thai and Australian scholars and build international networks, which continue long after the scholars have returned to Thailand. They reinforce our strong and enduring ties in our 60th anniversary of bilateral relations this year," said Ambassador Wise.

The awardees will undertake their study, research, or personal development at vocational, postgraduate, and postdoctoral level across a large number of fields including science, environment, agriculture, health, engineering, hospitality, business, education, law, regional stability and governance, and creative arts.

For further information - the Australia Awards website at www.australiaawards.gov.au

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Parents to get debit cards 

from govt for school 

supplies

THE NATION January 25, 2012 1:00 am

Instead of getting cash from the government to buy state-subsidised school supplies and 

uniforms, parents might be issued debit cards. The Basic Education Commission plans to 

authorise 7.8 million cards for parents of children in primary and high schools to use for the next 

semester opening in May. The credit in the cards follows the same pricing for students at 

various levels. School supplies run Bt100, Bt195, Bt210 and Bt230 for kindergarten, primary, 

lower and upper secondary levels, while uniforms are Bt300, Bt360, Bt450 and Bt500.

The agency still needs to seek approval from all parties, including shops that may not have 

card machines and parents who ay be charged an annual fee.

Secretary-general Chinnaphat Phoomirat said yesterday that the debit card scheme was 

supposed to be implemented before the current semester began in November.

However, the Government Savings Bank, which floated the idea, needed to charge up to Bt70 

per card and that was not acceptable. After negotiations, the GSB agreed to absorb the cost of 

the cards, but it has not yet been decided if the annual fee could also be waived. The GSB has 

said in a statement that it could provide card machines to all outlets, but for schools in remote 

areas, stores could use a card machine or the cash register of their cooperatives, he added.

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