ASEAN, supported by European Union (EU), is set to open up the second batch of student exchange scholarships for January-July 2017 period starting from Sept. 1.

This program allows for a selected batch of 125 undergraduate students from ASEAN countries, who have completed at least two semesters in a home university, to have an additional semester in another country within the region.

The fully-funded scholarship is part of the EU Support to Higher Education in the ASEAN Region (SHARE) program.

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“An effective regional higher education system centered on an ASEAN scholarship scheme for students is a key element in promoting connectivity and integration efforts in ASEAN," said ASEAN deputy secretary-general for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community H.E. Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee in a press release.

SHARE is a €10 million grant funded program that aims to enhance the quality of ASEAN higher education institutions and students. Starting from 2016 onwards, the program plans to provide 500 scholarships for ASEAN university students, mainly through student exchanges and credit recognition within the region. ASEAN is working with a consortium led by British Council and comprising the DAAD, EP-Nuffic, Campus France, ENQA and EUA between 2015 and 2018 to implement SHARE.

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Indonesia's University of Indonesia (UI), Diponegoro University, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) and Bina Nusantara University will participate in the program. The other ASEAN universities set to participate in the program are as follows: Cambodia's Royal University of Phnom Penh, University of Cambodia, Phnom Penh International University and National University of Management Cambodia; Laos' National University of Laos; Malaysia's Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Taylors University Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Sabah; Myanmar's University of Yangon Mandalay University, Myanmar Maritime University and Yangon University of Economics; the Philippines' University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas, De La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University; Thailand's Chulalongkorn University, Payap University, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi and Thammasat University and Vietnam's Viet Nam National University, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Ho Chi Minh University of Technology and Education and Hue University. (kes)