September 14: More and more Bhutanese can look forward to studying in Australia. This has been made possible with the Australian government providing an increasing number of scholarships.

Last year 14 Bhutanese went to study in Australia. This year, they are providing scholarships to 22 Bhutanese. From the 22 scholarships, eight have been allocated to corporate and private sectors.

The Australian government is very pleased with the performance of the Bhutanese students according to Mr. Percy Stanley.

Mr. Stanley is the councilor for South Asia Australian Agency for International Development. Mr. Stanley is currently in Bhutan to observe the selection procedure of the scholars for the Australia Leadership Award.

It is a new scheme introduced last year. He said the leadership award will be given to people who have potential to assume leadership roles that can influence social and economic policy reforms.

The Australian government is giving 60 Australian Leadership awards to the South Asia region including Bhutan. So far more than 200 Bhutanese have completed further studies under the AusAid Program.