Scholarships for Bangladeshi Students in Australia and Japan

Scholarships for Bangladeshi Students

Continuing studies abroad can be an exciting experience. Aside from giving you the opportunity to improve your skills and helping you to get promoted in your professional career, studying abroad also gives you the once in a life time experience where you can get to know and enjoy different cultures and cuisines as well as meeting new people from around the world, giving you the opportunity to expand your network.

If you are one who seeks this kind of experience while also wanting to achieve your academic goals at the same time but have financial conditions that doesn’t support you to accomplish what you wish for, make some time to take a look at these scholarships that you may want to apply for.

1. Australia Awards Scholarships

Australia Awards are prestigious international scholarships offered by the Australian Government to the next generation of global leaders for development. The Australia’s international assistance in Bangladesh helps promote prosperity, reduce poverty, and enhance socio-economic stability. Through study and research, recipients develop necessary skills and knowledge to drive change and to build enduring people-to-people links with Australia.

Applicants of this scholarship will be assessed on their professional and personal qualities, academic competence and, most importantly, their potential to impact development challenges in Bangladesh. Preferences will be given to eligible women, persons with disability and ethnic minorities – not to limit other applicants to apply. At least 50% of the scholarships will be targeted at suitability qualified female applicants.

For study commencing in 2020, scholarships are only available for master’s degrees, and only the following groups are eligible to apply.

Group 1: Government of Bangladesh officials, limited to Bangladesh cadre officials, officers of the Bangladesh Bank, and Judicial Services officials.

Group 2: Workers from development organisations, specifically non-government organisations, civil society organisations, community-based organisations, and international development agencies (e.g. United Nations agencies)

Group 3: Entrepreneurs or employees of private sector organisations

Group 4: Individuals from academia, research institutions (e.g. icddr,b, IEDCR), media, and cultural organisations (e.g. historical museums).

The Australia Awards Scholarships covers the following costs.

• Return are travel
• A one-off establishment allowance on arrival
• Full tuition fees
• Contribution to living expenses
• Introductory Academic Programme
• Overseas Student Health Cover for the duration of the scholarship
• Supplementary academic support
• Fieldwork allowance for research students and masters by coursework which has a compulsory fieldwork component.

If you wish to pursue a master’s degree in Australia with this scholarship, you must meet the following general and country-specific criteria.

• Be a minimum of 18 years of age on 1 February of the year you are applying for the scholarship.
• Be a citizen of Bangladesh and be residing in and applying for the scholarship from Bangladesh.
• Not be a citizen of -or permanent residency in Australia or be applying for a visa to live in Australia permanently.
• Not married to, engaged to, or a de facto of a person who holds or is eligible to hold Australian or New Zealand citizenship or permanent residency, at any time during the application, selection or mobilisation phases.
• Not be current serving military personnel
• Not have previously received a long-term Australia Award unless you have resided outside of Australia twice the length of the total time that you were in Australia.
• Have at least four years’ full-time relevant work experience.
• Have satisfied any specific criteria established by the Australian institution and programme area of which will be undertaken.
• Be able to satisfy all requirements of the Department of Home Affairs to hold a Foreign Affairs or Defence Sector (subclass 500) student visa.
• Not be applying for a scholarship for a course of study at an academic level lesser than you have already achieved

If you are certain that you have met the criteria, you may start your online application through OASIS https://oasis.dfat.gov.au/. You must supply documents to support your scholarship application including, but not limited to:

• A certified copy of original formal degree graduation certificate and academic transcripts, along with their certified translations if not in English.
• A certified copy of a citizenship document
• A certified copy of original birth certificate and, if not in English, a certified translation.
• A curriculum vitae (CV) briefly detailing work history and responsibilities (and research experience, if relevant to the application).
• Referee reports: at least one academic referee report and at least one other referee report (e.g. a work supervisor).
• A certified copy of original English language test (IELTS or TOEFL) results certificate valid until 1 January of the year in which the studies will commence.
• Proof of cadre service (for applicants from the Government of Bangladesh)
• Government of Bangladesh officials also need to indicate any work experience with the private sector or NGOs, if applicable
• Research proposal (for masters by research applicants) and the agreement.
• Development Impact Plan

If your application is successful, you will be notified for an interview. Successful candidates will be notified no later than 31 August 2019.

For more information, visit https://www.australiaawardsbangladesh.org.

2. Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship – Japanese Studies Students

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan offers full scholarships to Bangladeshi students who wish to study for a period of one year at designated Japanese universities as Japanese Studies Students in order to deepen their understanding of the Japanese language, Japanese affairs and Japanese culture under the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Programme.

MEXT accepts applications from Bangladeshi students who satisfy the following qualifications.

• A citizen of Bangladesh
• Aged between 18 and 30 on the year of the studies intake
• An undergraduate at a non-Japanese university and/or Japanese culture.
• Have studied the Japanese Studies at a university for a total of one year or more.
• Have sufficient Japanese language ability for receiving education at a Japanese university in Japan.
• Obtain a ‘Student’ visa at the Japanese diplomatic mission and enter Japan with the residence status of ‘Student’
• Return to Bangladesh and continue to study after the end of the scholarship period

Successful applicants will receive the following scholarship benefits.

• Travel expenses (transportation to and return from Japan)
• Living allowance of 117,000 yen per month. A supplemental regional allowance of 2,000 or 3,000 yen per month will be added to the monthly scholarship amount for grantees studying or conducting research in specially designated regions.
• Education fees (entrance examination, matriculation and tuition).

If you are one of the students who are eligible for the scholarship and you wish to pursue studies in Japan, you may apply for the opportunity by submitting the listed application documents below to the Japanese diplomatic mission in Bangladesh by the deadline.

• Application Form
• Placement Preference Application Form
• Certified academic transcripts from the university you are currently attending
• Document(s) verifying that you have studied the Japanese language and culture for at least one year
• Certificate of enrolment
• Recommendation letter from the head of or academic advisor at the university you are currently attending
• Medical certificate
• Certificate of Japanese language ability

For further information, visit www.mext.go.jp > Policy > Education > Higher Education.