A billion-dollar project, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is opening new avenues for young graduates, entrepreneurs and businesses. Therefore, it is essential for the upcoming professionals to add another milestone in their resume i.e. learning the Chinese language.
Punjab Government and its scholarship program
It is noteworthy to mention that the Government of Punjab (GoP) launched a scholarship program couple of years ago in 2015. The notion was to cater and meet the dire need of Chinese to English/Urdu/Punjabi translators or vice versa. The move provided an exceptional platform to all the bright individuals to improve their learning skills by living abroad and to learn a new languages through a fully-funded scholarship.
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The scholarship program is intended to send 500 students to China to learn Mandarin. Students will be sent to China under the fourth batch of the program. As many as 345 students have been awarded Chinese language scholarships; however, the remaining 155 students will receive the scholarship under the fourth batch if they meet the eligibility criteria.
Top students will get a job placement upon their return to Pakistan. In addition, students who will be willing to continue learning the Chinese language will be offered 4 years extended scholarship program for Chinese language degree program.
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What is the eligibility criteria?
Before any student applies for the scholarship program, an applicant must meet the following criteria:
- Domicile of Punjab (any district)
- An applicant should be between 22-24 years of age
- Minimum 14 years of education is required from a recognized institution
- At least first division in Bachelors
- Medical fitness is compulsory
- Candidates who are selected provisionally will be required to complete a short Chinese course from a local institution. The duration of the course will be 2-3 weeks
Once an applicant is selected, he will have to get the admission for Chinese Language Studies in any approved Chinese institute for up to two years.
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Procedure of selection
A student will be selected for the scholarship program if he meets the aforementioned eligibility criteria and the pre-requisites of the scholarship program:
- If the candidates are more than the available seats then a written test will take place to shortlist the candidates. They will then be interviewed to finalize the list
- Those applicants will be offered final scholarship award who will qualify in the local Chinese language course
- If anyone is associated with any government, semi-government or an autonomous body, he shall be required to send his application via a proper channel along with an NOC
- Preference shall be given to those candidates who have prior Chinese language ability or to those who belong from Southern Punjab
How can You apply?
An applicant is required to apply online by clicking here. Moreover, he is also supposed to submit the application to Financial Aid Office (FAO) along with a hard copy of the application form and relevant documents.
The late date for the submission of application is 20th June 2017.