KUCHING – The Brooke Trust and Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus are once again offering The Brooke Trust Education Bursary for students who are interested to enrol in Swinburne’s Master of Arts TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) programme March 2020 intake.
The bursary worth 50% of the programme tuition fees is open to newly enrolled, full-time Swinburne students in the TESOL programme, preferably Sarawakian degree graduates with CGPA of 3.33 and above. Priority will be given to applicants who are financially in need where the individual or family monthly per capita income must not exceed RM3,500.
In addition to the financial standing and academic achievements of the applicants, The Brooke Trust will also take into consideration other factors such as attributes which indicate that the applicant is likely to become an outstanding citizen, personal qualities and character and the extent to which the applicant has demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities, as well as participation and achievements in extra-curricular activities including sports and community services.
The education bursary was introduced in October 2018 and is now in its second year offering. The first bursary recipient is current English teacher from SMK Kidurong Bintulu, Presley Lau Sing Hie.
Lau, who has always wanted to become an English teacher since she was in primary school, emphasised the importance of mastering the English language as it is widely used all around the world to communicate and socialise with people from different backgrounds.
She chose to further her postgraduate study at Swinburne as she is passionate about learning and is particularly keen to upgrade her teaching methods and approaches. By acquiring new and innovative skills through the Master programme, she hopes to encourage her students to learn English in a more creative and fun way, and eventually have good command of the language.
“The bursary is a great assistance for those who are unable to afford a high tuition fee. With this bursary, it reduces my financial burden and allows me to put aside a sum of money to purchase supplementary learning materials for my students,” said Lau.
Lau looks forward to starting her internship at the end of this year at The Brooke Museums as part of the bursary compulsory requirements. Recipients are to volunteer as an intern during semester breaks (minimum of 120 working hours) before the final semester of his or her Master programme.
Director of Brooke Trust Jason Desmond Anthony Brooke.
Meanwhile, Director of Brooke Trust Jason Desmond Anthony Brooke remarked that this is a wonderful opportunity for the right candidates to not just gain an outstanding development opportunity at Swinburne, but also to put their skills to use, and learn new skills through the internship opportunity offered at Brooke Museums in concert with the bursary.
Offered by Swinburne’s School of Design and Arts, the MA (TESOL) programme is designed for English teachers who are seeking to enhance their qualifications with a quality higher degree, or degree holders who plan to make a career change to the exciting world of English language teaching.
It focuses on skills such as oral presentation, academic writing, critical thinking, analytical, research, problem solving, lifelong learning, teamwork and leadership. With a structure to advance from the basics to pre-PhD level, the programme comprises four semesters where Semester 1 to 3 each has four units of study. To complete the semester, students are required to carry out the TESOL Research Project.
Through classroom discussions, individual and group projects and micro-teaching tasks, students experience hands-on teaching, develop lesson plans and course design, and grapple with broader issues related to teaching English to speakers of other languages. A graduate certificate qualification comprising one semester is also available for those interested.
The programme complies with the Australian Qualifications Framework and is accredited by the Malaysian Qualifications Register. It is taught by highly-qualified and experienced lecturers trained in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Singapore.
Those who are interested to apply for the bursary can submit their application to Swinburne by Thursday, 31 October 2019. Applicants may apply for the bursary as soon they receive a Letter of Offer for enrolment from Swinburne.
Further details on The Brooke Trust Education Bursary can be found at www.swinburne.edu.my/study/study-options/scholarships-postgraduate.php. For other enquiries, email to Liza Sideni at lsideni@brooketrust.org.
For more information about Swinburne, visit www.swinburne.edu.my, Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter page (@Swinburne_Swk) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).