East Timor: Testing Begins for Portuguese Scholarship Candidates 16 Jan-21:03

More than 1,900 East Timorese youths will this week begin testing to determine the recipients of 500 scholar[s]hips to study in Portugal.

The candidates were chosen from a preliminary group of nearly 3,000 students. The current round of testing is in two of the eight disciplines covered by the examinations.

The Portuguese and English exams are conducted in those respective languages, while the remaining six are in Indonesian Bahasa, the language most familiar to East Timorese students.

The budget for the first year of the initiative is euros 2.5 million. The aim is to place students in various Portuguese universities and polytechnic institutes.

Maria Jose Carrilho of the Portuguese mission in Dili told Lusa Tuesday that the scholarships covered a normal four or five year course of study at an institute of higher education, as well as a preliminary year to prepare students for study at a Portuguese university. Also included are a monthly subsidy and a housing and travel allowance, she said.

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