The Foreign Ministry in cooperation with the Royal Thai Embassy in Cairo has taken important steps in ensuring the success of 80 Thai students who have been granted scholarships to the Al Azhar University in Egypt, including preparations prior to the trip and support during their studies abroad.
In his opening remarks on 11 July 2011 which launched the orientation programme for the scholarship grantees, Mr. Pravit Chaimongkol, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, said that the programme would provide students with knowledge, advice, and first hand experience from previous scholarship grantees in order to prepare them for their studies in Egypt. The Foreign Ministry provided a fund of 600,000 Baht for the 7 day orientation programme and was instrumental in providing advice to the Central Islamic Council of Thailand.
Al Azhar University of Egypt is considered a central institution for Islamic knowledge and one of the oldest Islamic universities in the world and the Thai scholarship grantees will require substantial support. The support is particularly essential prior to the students’ entry to the University, since they will have to take an admission test beforehand.
The orientations provide a certain degree of preparation, but the students will continue to receive advice and support from the Royal Thai Embassy in Cairo. The Deputy Permanent Secretary further added that to complete the support process, Thai government agencies are ready to provide assistance in placing the graduates in areas which require knowledge in Islam and Arabic such as the Islamic financial sector, the Islamic bank, Halal Food Industry, and medical care.
In order to pass the selection process, the 80 scholarship grantees were required to pass an interview by a committee consisting of Al Azhar University professors invited by the Embassy of Egypt in Bangkok. It is noteworthy that this is the first year that the majority of the grantees came from Thailand’s provinces, whilst in the past, the majority of the grantees were from Bangkok.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th