The University of New South Wales (UNSW) has decided to provide 300,000 dollars (US$281,000) worth of post-graduate scholarships to develop skills vital to the rebuilding of China's earthquake-devastated Sichan Province, said a Chinese official on Tuesday.

Bai Gang, the education counselor of Sydney Consulate-General of China told Xinhua that 10 Chinese students will be selected from Sichuan University to study in UNSW.

The UNSW will provide 10 Masters by Coursework full tuition scholarships for a range of one year programs, to be undertaken in 2009. They will include Urban Planning and Design, Engineering Science, Construction Management, Health Management and Master of Science and Technology in Environmental Science.

The UNSW Global, which runs Foundation Studies for the University, will provide additional scholarships to any of the students who need pre-course intensive language tuition to meet the University's English entry standards, said Bai.

Bai said the announcement of the scholarship to Chinese students was made by UNSW Vice-Chancellor Professor Fred Hilmer in Sydney on Monday.

He noted that the scholarship showed the goodwill and friendship between China and Australia in general, and a long history of academic collaboration between the universities of the two countries in particular.

"It is a far sighted initiative, which is significant on three levels. One is humanitarian: the scholarships will help to reconstruct education in the region and help reconstruct the region as a whole.

"Secondly, I believe the scholarships are strategically important, because they will help to bring the relationship between Australia and China even closer.

"And finally, on the academic level, it continues our long tradition of collaboration in teaching and research, by providing graduates who will be able to contribute to the rebuilding of the province," Bai said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 17, 2008)