DILI,5 may 2023 (TATOLI)- The United State Embassy Public Affairs Officer, Tim Johnson, joined Timor-Leste Human Capital Development Fund Executive Director Cristovao dos Reis today and signed an additional funding agreement for higher education scholarship over the next five years.
The statement accessed by Tatoli stated that the Human Capital Development Fund (FDCH) Timor-Leste will commit at least $150,000 in 2023 to support up to three Timorese students to pursue Master’s degrees in the United States through the Fulbright program. That funding is expected to grow in the subsequent four years as both countries continue efforts to expand scholarship offerings.
At the signing ceremony, Tim Johnson from the U.S. Embassy representing the U.S. Government said The United States has been a longstanding partner to Timor-Leste in providing scholarships for outstanding Timorese people to pursue education and exchange opportunities in the United States.
“As part of our commitment to growing this partnership, I am proud of our joint efforts to provide additional scholarships for Timorese students to pursue education in the United States. We look forward to strengthening our bilateral cooperation to help advance Timor-Leste’s National Strategic Development Plan in the years ahead,”
The scholarship agreement builds on the bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in the field of higher education exchange signed in December 2022 between the U.S. Embassy and the Timor-Leste Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Culture.
The scholarship funding will be managed by the Institute of International Education, a global not-for-profit organization that facilitates international exchange programs, including the Fulbright Foreign Student Program. The program enables foreign graduate students and young professionals to study and conduct research in the United States.
At the MoU signing in 2022, the United States announced it would expand scholarship offerings for Timor-Leste, including by providing nine additional slots for Timorese students and scholars to pursue education and research in the United States and for U.S. students and scholars to teach and conduct research in Timor-Leste.
Over the last 20 years, the United States has enabled over 600 Timorese people to pursue higher education and exchange opportunities, including through Fulbright, the U.S.-Timor-Leste (USTL) scholarship, the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), and others.
The Executive Director of the HCDF, Cristovão dos Reis, said: “The agreement between the US and Timor-Leste’s FDCH is a preliminary process:”which means, it begins to open up recruitment opportunities for everyone. After everything we concluded, we will announce who would be the candidate. But we don’t know how many people will sign up for this program,”
TATOLI
