COVID-19: MHRD to put Chinese scholarship programmes for Indian students on hold

China provides both fully funded and partially funded scholarships to undergraduate, post graduate, doctoral programme, general scholar programme and senior scholar programme for international students. Every year, more than 10,000 students from across the country, including 500 from Tamil Nadu, seek admissions to various courses in China.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD) monitors most of the scholarship programmes sponsored by Chinese government. A senior MHRD official, seeking anonymity, told DT Next that though the Ministry already issued notification to nominate 50 candidates to China under various programmes, but as a precautionary measure, officials were mulling putting on hold the nominations till normalcy is restored in the country. “The upcoming scholarship programme will also be put on hold,” he added.

However, the MHRD will receive online applications from students as per the notification so that candidates are ready to move if China is declared nCoronavirus-free and assures students’ safety, the official added.

Stating that after Class 12, many students, who intend to study in China will apply after the board exams, he said the MHRD will instruct schools to create awareness among students about the implications of studying in China especially at this point of time. “In addition, following complaints about several fake websites releasing information about Chinese scholarships, the list of authorised websites will be made known to the students soon to avoid them getting misled,” the official said. He added that orders will be issued to private players who organise scholarship programmes for Indian students in China, to undertake all instructions issued by the MHRD before processing students’ applications.

According to the official, a few of the Chinese scholarship programmes include the National Arts Council Arts Scholarships 2020, HIT-Qingrui Scholarship for International Students 2020, Shanghai Government Scholarships 2020, Guangxi Government Scholarship 2020 and the Hubei Provincial Scholarships.